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All operational British Rivet Joint spy planes near Russia
Both operational Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft flew intelligence sorties near Russia on September 25, one over the Baltic region near Kaliningrad and the other around the Black Sea. Public tracking showed ZZ664 and ZZ666 operating from RAF Waddington without entering Russian airspace. The aircraft collect, locate and analyse communications and radar emissions to support situational awareness and electronic intelligence. Britain owns three Rivet Joints, but the third was unavailable while undergoing maintenance or modification in the United States, making the simultaneous missions the full deployable fleet at that time.