An American military transport aircraft reportedly landed in Moscow early Tuesday after departing from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and making a stop in Latvia, according to flight-tracking data cited in a new report.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III left the U.S. Air Force installation outside Washington, D.C., late Sunday afternoon, NBC News reported.
The massive military aircraft then stopped in Riga, Latvia, before continuing its journey to Vnukovo International Airport in the Russian capital.
The C-17 touched down in Moscow shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday, according to FlightRadar24 data cited by the network.
However, the purpose of the unusual flight remained a mystery. It was not immediately clear who was traveling aboard the plane or what cargo, if any, the aircraft may have been carrying.
A Kremlin spokesperson told NBC News that he had no information regarding the American military transport or the circumstances surrounding its arrival in Moscow.
The U.S. military, the White House and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to the network’s requests for comment. The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., also did not immediately provide an explanation for the flight, according to NBC News.
The absence of official information left key questions unanswered about why an American military aircraft traveled to the Russian capital and whether the flight involved passengers, equipment or another type of cargo.
The C-17 Globemaster III is designed to transport troops and a wide variety of military equipment. According to the U.S. Air Force, the aircraft is typically operated by a three-person crew consisting of a pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster.
The smaller crew helps reduce manpower requirements, exposure to risk and long-term operating expenses, the Air Force said.
The military transport is equipped with a large rear ramp and door system that allows crews to load nearly all of the Army’s air-transportable equipment. That includes armored vehicles, trucks, trailers and even a 69-ton M1 Abrams main battle tank.
The aircraft’s cargo floor can also be adjusted depending on what it is transporting. Rollers built into the floor can be flipped to create a flat surface for tracked or wheeled vehicles. The same system can be converted into rollerized conveyors to handle palletized cargo.
In addition to transporting heavy equipment and other military supplies, the C-17 is capable of carrying and deploying paratroopers. The Air Force says the plane was designed to airdrop as many as 102 paratroopers along with their equipment.
Despite the aircraft’s extensive transport capabilities, no information was immediately available about what was aboard the C-17 that landed in Moscow.
Officials on both the American and Russian sides had not publicly explained the flight, leaving the identity of any passengers and the reason for the military aircraft’s trip to Russia unknown.
