The Pentagon released footage of what it says is a Russian aircraft dumping fuel on an unmanned U.S. drone, damaging the propeller and forcing U.S. controllers to crash land device in the Black Sea on Tuesday.
“Two Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 Reaper operating within international airspace,” the Pentagon said in a release issued with the video.
Russian military authorities said they will attempt to retrieve and study the wreckage of the American MQ-9 drone, which is the size of a small plane. The drones are can be armed with Hellfire missiles, but officials said this drone was not armed.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing that the drone sank into waters more than 4,000 feet deep. He said it probably broke up and that “mitigating measures” were taken to ensure no intelligence could be accessed.
DRONE CRASH:Russian fighter jet damages US Air Force drone over Black Sea
Two Russian SU-27 fighters intercepted the drone Tuesday, demonstrating a “lack of competence,” according to a statement from U.S. European Command. The initial statement said that one of the fighters struck the propeller of the drone, “nearly caused both aircraft to crash” and forced U.S. operators to bring the drone down in international waters.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its fighter jets were trying to identify the “intruder” flying near Crimea when the drone’s own abrupt maneuvering caused it to crash. The ministry accused the U.S. of provoking the incident, saying the American drone flew with its transponders switched off and “violating the borders” established by the Kremlin due to the war.
DRONE SALVAGE ATTEMPT:Russia to try to salvage wrecked US drone; Gen. Milley says ‘not a lot to recover’: Ukraine war updates
