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A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon Has Carried Out An Unusual ISR Mission Off Libya Recently

June 9, 2020 David Cenciotti Libya, Military Aviation, Troubled Areas 0 Comments

The track of the P-8 off Libya. (Image credit: Skyvector/@Fireflying11)

The American aircraft has rarely been tracked off North Africa.

We have been observing U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon flying in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions for years. The American aircraft, that launch from Sigonella airbase, in Sicily, Italy, can regularly be tracked online by means of ADS-B/Mode-S as they are on the hunt for Russian submarines, accompany a Carrier Strike Group operating in the the Mediterranean Sea, perform instrumental approach at Italian airports for training purposes; and, more frequently, operate off Syria or Crimea during ISR missions.

On May 26, 2020, a USN Poseidon flying off Syria was intercepted by two Russian Su-35s that “flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while intercepting the P-8.” The American aircraft was operating well outside the Syrian airspace but most probably keeping an eye on Hmeimim, the base that hosts the Russian Air Force contingent, where MiG-29s and Su-24s had stopped over on their way to Libya. As already explained, it is quite likely that the “unsafe” intercept was carried out as the P-8 was observing the residual movements of the Russian jets on delivery to Libya via Syria. In fact, between May 18 and 19 (believed to be the window of transit of the Russian jets) as many as 4x P-8As from Sigonella, Italy; 2x EP-3E ARIES from Souda Bay, Greece; 2x MQ-9 Reapers from Sigonella; and 2x U-2s from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, were logged around Syria while collecting imagery and data that was used to support U.S. Africa Command claim that at least 14 Russian fighter jets were deployed to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors (PMCs) operating on the ground in Libya.

Interestingly, a few days later a USN Poseidon flew a rather unusual mission tracked once again by our friend Arjen Peters: between May 28 and 29, a P-8A from Sigonella operated at high altitude off the northern coast of Libya between Tripoli and Misrata, flying racetracks quite similar to those we have observed in the eastern Med off Syria.

The track of the P-8 off Libya. (Image credit: Skyvector/@Fireflying11)

According to Arjen, while other American spyplanes are tracked every now and then south of Malta well inside the Tripoli FIR (Flight Information Region), this was the first time a P-8 operated so close to Libya and, while we can’t rule out the possibility the mission was completely unrelated to the deployment, there are also chances that the presence of the Poseidon in an area where this kind of aircraft has never (or rarely) operated was connected to the transfer of the Russian aircraft few days before.

However, it must also be remembered that the situation in Libya is pretty dynamic and there are other things that may explain the American interest in what happens in the country (such as the alleged Iranian support to Haftar forces or the ties of the LNA leader with Venezuela).

And there are also a lot of signals along the Libyan coastline the U.S. aircraft (not only the P-8) might want to investigate…..