Thread by @SkyNews

NATO spy planes are keeping tabs on the Russians.

They are conducting missions to track Russian movement, which might include listening to soldiers’ phone calls, according to one expert.

They also help reveal the position of Russian warships and submarines

The position of the planes helps show the areas NATO countries are interested in, like Crimea and Kaliningrad.

Sky News analysis of flight tracking data from a typical day in recent weeks shows that a host of NATO and Swedish planes are monitoring key Russian positions

Two US flights departed an airbase in Lithuania.

These planes are designed to intercept electronic communications and can be seen flying back and forth along the Russian border of Kaliningrad

Another aircraft flew for over five hours, circling an area where the Baltic and North Seas meet. Russian vessels were believed to be nearby.

According to Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for military aerospace at the IISS, the planes are "digital listening posts in the sky"

Flight tracking data shows NATO and Swedish planes are monitoring key Russian positions.

A US aircraft departed from Spain. It turned off its transponder for an hour, but it was picked up again near the position of Russian ships heading into the Mediterranean

The planes are equipped with radar and other devices which allow them to collect signals sent from Russian bases and to intercept communications.

Two planes tracked the coastline of Crimea - one from a US airbase in Sicily and an RAF plane from Waddington

Here’s more details on what NATO spy planes are doing to keep tabs on the Russians 👇
news.sky.com/story/russia-u…