The US military has confirmed that a Russian fighter jet collided with an American Reaper drone over the Black Sea, bringing down the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
The US military reported that one of the two Russian fighters clipped the propeller of the drone, which forced the US to bring it down in the area of intense NATO military activity near Ukraine’s war frontlines, amidst Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.
The drone was conducting routine operations in international airspace when the incident occurred.
US Air Force General James Hecker, who oversees the US Air Force in the region, stated that the unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.
The incident follows a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots over international airspace. Although one Western source earlier suggested an investigation was underway to check whether the drone had been shot down, it was quickly clarified that a collision had occurred between a US-made MQ-9 Reaper and a Russian Su-27 fighter jet at 7:03 am CET (6:03 am GMT).
It was not immediately clear why the drone was operating in the region. Quoting the United States European Command, Politico’s Pentagon reporter Lara Seligman said that the Su-27s had dumped fuel and flew in front of the drone.
Analysts have suggested that the Russians may have been trying to down the much smaller aircraft in such a way that would allow them to recover its data.
»Russian fighter jet collides with American Reaper drone over the Black Sea, crashing the jet«
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