Russian Fighter Jet Collides With U.S. Military Reaper Drone Over Black Sea
By Ryan Saavedra - The Daily Wire
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Two Russian fighter jets were reportedly harassing a U.S. military drone over international waters on Tuesday morning when one of the fighter jets collided with the drone, forcing the drone to crash into the Black Sea.
The U.S. European Command said in a statement that one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the $32 million unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.
The statement said that multiple times before the incident occurred that both of the Russian Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless manner that was environmentally unsound and demonstrated a “lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.”
“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,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
“U.S. and Allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely,” Hecker added.
The statement said that the incident followed a “pattern of dangerous actions” by Russian pilots while interacting with U.S. and Allied aircraft over international airspace that could “lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.”
“U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa routinely fly aircraft throughout Europe over sovereign territory and throughout international airspace in coordination with applicable host nation and international laws,” the statement added. “In order to bolster collective European defense and security, these missions support Allied, partner, and U.S. national objectives.”
US video shows moment Russian fighter jet collides with US drone
By Timothy H.J. Nerozzi , Paul Conner , Liz Friden | Fox News
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U.S. officials have released video that shows a Russian Su-27 fighter jet colliding with the propeller of a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The video release by the U.S. military's European Command on Thursday came amid a race to secure the downed American aircraft.
Russian ships are at the MQ-9 drone crash site in the Black Sea, a U.S. defense official told Fox News Thursday. Russia sent ships to search the debris field almost immediately following the crash.
"They wasted no time," the official said.
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A different U.S. official is not confident Russia will be able to obtain any of the drone debris.
This part of the Black Sea is 4,000-5,000 feet deep, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley said in a Wednesday Pentagon press briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Milley said it has likely sank to some "significant depths" already.
The U.S. military has no ships in the Black Sea. When asked about U.S. recovery efforts, Milley said the U.S. has allies and partners in the region, but later in the press conference told reporters to not look too much into that.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin summarized the incident Wednesday in a press conference, saying, "Two Russian jets dumped fuel on an unmanned U.S. MQ-9 aircraft conducting routine operations in international airspace. And one Russian jet intercepted and hit our MQ-9 aircraft, resulting in a crash."
Austin sharply criticized the Russian military for its actions, stating that the Black Sea incident was "a part of a pattern of aggressive and risky and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace."
Russia has previously denied that the aircraft touched one another, and accused the U.S. of unnecessarily escalating the issue.
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"We assume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media and stop flights near Russian borders,"said Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov on Wednesday.
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Two U.S. military fighter pilots, speaking with Fox News, disputed the idea that Russian jets could have dumped fuel on the drone.
The pilots said any fuel the jet pilots could have been intending to dump would "vaporize instantly" when it hit the air. It would not have affected the drone or the flight.
Ukrainian officials have claimed the alleged incident is Russia's attempt to escalate U.S. involvement in the war.
"The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV — provoked by Russia over the Black Sea — is Putin's way of signaling his readiness to expand the conflict to involve other parties," said National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov. "The purpose of this all-in tactic is to always be raising the stakes."
Russia gives state awards to pilots behind US drone crash
By Timothy H.J. Nerozzi | Fox News
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The Russian government has awarded the pilots involved in the harassment and crash of a U.S. drone in international airspace.
Russian minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to the fighter jet pilots responsible for downing a U.S. drone over the Black Sea earlier this week.
In an official statement, the Ministry of Defense commended the pilots for preventing the drone from "violating the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation."
The statement accuses the U.S. drone of flying with its transponders off.
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The Russian Ministry of Defense stood by its earlier claims that the aircraft at no point touched the drone, despite U.S. video show a jet clipping its propeller, forcing the drone to crash into the Black Sea.
"The Russian aircraft did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and returned safely to their home airfield," the ministry stated.
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U.S. Central Command has seen more "unprofessional" and "unsafe" behavior from Russian pilots in Syria since March 1, a commander said Thursday.
Gen. Michael Kurilla explained the ongoing harassment of U.S. forces in the region at a meeting of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
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The general explained that Russian aircraft have become emboldened to act aggressively toward U.S. bases in a way not typical of an organized military force.
