U.S. and Russian officials had conflicting accounts of the collision between the MQ-9 Reaper drone and the Russian Su-27 fighter jet -- each blaming the other. But a Pentagon spokesman raised the possibility that the Defense Department could eventually declassify and release video it has of the collision.
Defence officials said the drone has not been recovered. But the Pentagon declined to say whether any effort was underway to gather debris or pieces of the Reaper.The Pentagon and U.S. European Command said that two Russian Su-27 aircraft dumped fuel on the MQ-9, which was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.
It's not clear if the collision was an accident or intentional, but both sides agree the Russian aircraft were trying to intercept the drone.The Russian Defence Ministry said the U.S. drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded in an area that was declared off-limits by Russian authorities. It said that the Russian military scrambled fighters to intercept the U.S. drone. It claimed that "as a result of sharp maneuver, the U.S.
The ministry said the Russian aircraft were scrambled to intercept the drone but didn't use their weapons and "didn't come into contact" with it.The MQ-9 Reaper is a large unmanned Air Force aircraft that is remotely operated by a two-person team. It includes a ground control station and satellite equipment and has a 66-foot wingspan.
"We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned U.S. aircraft," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Russian jets have also buzzed U.S. warships during exercises in the Black Sea. In 2021, Russian warplanes buzzed the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, which had been taking part in a major exercise. Until Russia's invasion last year of Ukraine, U.S. warships more frequently deployed to the Black Sea in response to Russia's 2014 attack on Crimea.
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