Russian Air forces down US drone over Black Sea after intercept

 

A Russian fighter spurt forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ- 9 Reaper drone, according to a US functionary familiar with the incident. 

The Reaper drone and two SU- 27 Flanker spurts were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian spurts deliberately flew in front of and dumped energy in front of the unmanned drone, according to the functionary. One of the spurts also damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the reverse of the drone, the functionary said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea.

 The US Air Force issued a statement accusing the Russian aircraft of acting in a “ reckless, environmentally unsound and unskillful manner. ” “ At roughly 703 AM( CET), one of the Russian Su- 27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ- 9,causingU.S. forces to have to bring the MQ- 9 down in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su- 27s dumped energy on and flew in front of the MQ- 9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unskillful manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of capability in addition to being unsafe and unskillful, ” 

US Air ForceGen.JamesB.Hecker, commander,U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa said in the statement. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by public security counsel Jake Sullivan on Tuesday morning, according to National Security Council dispatches fellow John Kirby. Kirby He said it was “ not uncommon ” for Russian aircraft to block US aircraft over the Black Sea, and said there had been other intercepts in recent weeks. But he said the occasion Tuesday was unique in how “ unsafe, unskillful and reckless ” the Russian conduct were. CNN has asked the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment. 

Russian and US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea during the course of the Ukraine war, but this is the first known analogous commerce, a potentially dangerous escalation at a critical time in the fighting. 

The US has been operating Reaper drones over the Black Sea since before the morning of the war, using the asset drones to cover the area. Reaper drones can fly as high as, 000 bases, according to the Air Force, and they have sensors and capabilities to gather intelligence and perform surveillance for extended periods of time, making it an ideal platform to track movements on the battlefield and in the Black Sea.