🇫🇮🇷🇺 NATO has officially released a photo of its RQ-4D Phoenix high-altitude reconnaissance drone, which has been actively flying over Finnish airspace near the Russian border.
This marks a significant escalation in NATO’s ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) operations along Russia’s western frontier, following Finland’s full accession to the alliance. The RQ-4D, derived from the U.S. Global Hawk platform, is designed for long-endurance, high-altitude missions with real-time sensor payloads capable of mapping and tracking military activity deep inside adversary territory.
These surveillance flights are part of broader NATO efforts to maintain persistent situational awareness in the Baltic and Arctic zones amid ongoing tensions with Russia.
The Phoenix is operated by NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program and stationed at Sigonella Air Base in Italy, though its operational range covers all of Northern and Eastern Europe.
