20:39 14-05-2026

US Nightwatch May Have Tracked Russia’s Sarmat Test

Russian expert Vladimir Popov says a US Nightwatch aircraft may have collected data during Russia’s Sarmat missile test near Kamchatka.

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Honored Russian military pilot Vladimir Popov believes the U.S. military aircraft Boeing 747-E4B Nightwatch, which was reportedly present near the testing area of the Sarmat missile system, may have been collecting data on the characteristics of the Russian weapon.

Popov said he does not consider the aircraft’s appearance in the area accidental. According to him, Nightwatch is capable of monitoring not only visible changes in the atmosphere, but also technical parameters of a missile’s operation, including the movement of its warheads.

He suggested that the aircraft could have been measuring speed, maneuvering behavior, changes in azimuth angles, and the separation of the warhead section.

Popov also did not rule out that NATO ships may have been operating in neutral waters near Kamchatka, close to the area where the Sarmat’s simulated targets were expected to be hit. In his view, those vessels could also have been gathering information on the missile system’s performance.

The expert stressed that such data would be of serious interest to the United States and suggested that the American side is now actively analyzing the information it may have obtained.

Earlier, the Telegram channel Voyennaya Khronika reported that a Boeing 747-E4B Nightwatch aircraft may have been monitoring tests of Russia’s newest Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.