A Russian fighter jet collided with a $32 million US ‘Reaper’ spy drone, sending it crashing into the Black Sea.
President Joe Biden was immediately briefed on the incident, which appeared to be the first time since the height of the Cold War that a US aircraft was brought down by a Russian warplane.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said US State Department officials would be speaking directly with Russian counterparts and ‘expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept’ near Crimea.
Moscow said the drone maneuverered sharply and crashed into the water following an encounter with Russian fighter jets scrambled to intercept it, but insisted its warplanes didn’t fire their weapons or hit it.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price called it a ‘brazen violation of international law’ and said the US has summoned the Russian ambassador.
Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets ‘conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept’ of a US MQ-9 drone that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea, the US officials said.
One ‘struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing US forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters’, the US European Command added.
Several times before the collision, the jets dumped fuel on the drone and flew in front of it in ‘a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner’.
‘This incident follows a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with US and Allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea,’ the statement continued.
‘These aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.’
Sorry, this video isn't available any more.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the incident occurred at 7.03am Central European time (06.03am GMT; 2.03am EST) over international waters, and well clear of Ukraine, after the Russian jets had flown in the vicinity of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes.
There did not appear to be any communications between the aircraft before the collision, Mr Ryder added.
The MQ-9 is capable of carrying munitions but he would not say whether it was armed. The US had not recovered the crashed drone, US Air Forces-Europe said in a statement, and neither had Russia.
Mr Ryder said it appeared the Russian aircraft was also damaged in the collision but the US has confirmed that warplane did land, although he would not say where.
Russia’s defence ministry denied its jets had come into contact with the US drone, claiming instead that it crashed due to ‘sharp manoeuvring’.
It said the drone was flying over the Black Sea near Crimea and intruded into an area declared off limits by the Kremlin as part of Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military operation’, causing the military to scramble jets to intercept it.
‘As a result of a sharp manoeuvre, the MQ-9 drone went into unguided flight with a loss of altitude and crashed into the water,’ it added.
‘The Russian fighters didn’t use their weapons, didn’t come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and they safely returned to their base.’
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, described the drone flight as a ‘provocation’ and argued there was no reason for US military aircraft and warships to be near Russia’s borders.
Speaking after meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Karen Donfried, Mr Antonov insisted the Russian warplanes didn’t use their weapons or hit the American drone.
He added that Moscow wants ‘pragmatic’ ties with Washington, adding ‘we don’t want any confrontation between the US and Russia’.
Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern about US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which it illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Kremlin has charged that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the US and its allies have effectively become engaged in the conflict.
While the United States is not sailing warships in the Black Sea, it has routinely been flying surveillance aircraft in and around the area.
Mr Kirby insisted the collision would not deter the US from continuing missions in the area.
‘If the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying, and operating in international airspace, over the Black Sea, then that message will fail,’ he added.
‘That is not going to happen. We’re going to continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters. The Black Sea belongs to no one nation.’
The Black Sea lies between Europe and Asia and is bordered by Russia and Ukraine among other countries.
General David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, said that this type of collision is his greatest concern, both in that area of Europe as well as in the Pacific.
‘Probably my biggest worry both there and in the Pacific is an aggressive Russia or China pilot or vessel captain, or something gets too close, doesn’t realise where they are, and causes a collision,’ he said, in response to a question at a National Press Club event on Tuesday.
Gen Berger added that whether an incident is intentional or not, it forces nation’s leaders to try and sort it out quickly from afar.
The MQ-9 ‘Reaper’ drone, which is built by General Atomics, has a wingspan of 66 feet and is about 36 feet long.
The drone weighs about 2,220 kg when it is empty.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Share this with