Drama: Russian jet collides with US drone over Black Sea; the army spoke up
A Russian fighter jet collided with an American drone over the Black Sea, the BBC reports.
Tuesday, 14.03.2023.
19:27
Drama: Russian jet collides with US drone over Black Sea; the army spoke up
The US Air Force was forced to ground its drone, the US military said.The military says the drone was conducting a routine operation in international airspace when two Russian jets attempted to intercept it.
The statement also said that an "unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians" almost caused one of the fighter jets and the drone to crash.
"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," the US statement said.
"About seven o'clock one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft hit the propeller of the MK-9, as a result of which the US forces had to shoot the MK-9 down in international waters. Several times before the collision the Su-27 fighter jets dumped fuel on the drone in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional," U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa, said in a statement.
Russian and American planes have flown over the Black Sea during the war, but this is the first known such interaction, which was potentially dangerous and could have escalated at a critical moment in the fighting, CNN writes.
The United States has operated reaper drones over the Black Sea since before the start of the war, using spy drones to monitor the area. Reaper drones can fly up to 50,000 feet, according to the Air Force, and have sensors and the ability to gather intelligence and conduct reconnaissance over long periods of time, making them an ideal platform for monitoring movements on the battlefield and in the Black Sea.
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