- A P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was patrolling the coast before the attack
- The high-tech jet can spot ships on radar at ranges of more than 100 miles
- Ukraine sunk Moskva after firing two Neptune anti-ship missiles on April 13
Ukraine claimed it fired two Neptun missiles at the Russian warship which was patrolling south of Odesa.
Russia initially claimed the vessel, which had more than 500 crew on board had blown up after a fire onboard.
Later, the Kremlin was forced to admit the vessel - named in honour of the Russian capital - had been taken out by hostile action.
The Moskva sank shortly after this image was taken following the missile strike on the cruiser |
The Boeing-made aircraft is based upon the Boeing 737-800 jet - which is widely used by airlines such as Ryanair.
However, instead of passengers, the Poseidon is packed with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment which can track surface vessels and submarines at ranges of more than 100 miles.
According to The Times, the P-8 took off from Italy and took up station on the Romanian Black Sea coast where it attempted to locate the position of the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, a range of NATO surveillance platforms and drones have been monitoring Russian movements from the Polish coast, along the Ukrainian border and down to...