Anglo-French Joint Surveillance Mission Over the Black Sea
April 23, 2025
The mission was mounted after Britain and France issued a joint declaration on 10 April committing themselves to continue working on a “multinational effort to support Ukraine’s transition to peacetime from a position of strength.” Britain and France aimed to “reassure, support, and protect Ukraine to ensure that any peace settlement safeguards against the risk of future Russian aggression.”
The UK Permanent Joint Headquarters said that Britain and France had “worked seamlessly on a surveillance mission in Eastern Europe.” It noted that: “Air activity like this is crucial for European security, and testing our ability to work with NATO allies.” The French Joint Staff said that the mission had been a “surveillance of a strategic area for the security of the continent,” guaranteeing freedom of navigation and access to shared international airspace and waters, while “maintaining security and preventing any threat.”
The RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint operated from RAF Waddington, joining up with two Typhoons (callsigns ‘FANG0011’ and ‘FANG12’) and supported by a Voyager KC.Mk 3 (callsign RRR9944) operating from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The RC-135W and Typhoons flew a north to south track over the western Black Sea, along the Romanian coast, before flying east over the Black Sea, until they were south of Sevastopol in Crimea, where they reversed course back towards Romania, remaining in international airspace throughout.
The French air assets remained in the south-central and western parts of the Black Sea, not venturing further east.
