WASHINGTON: A Russian Su-27 fighter plane and an American military drone collided, as per the United States, over the Black Sea on Tuesday
According to the Pentagon, the collision rendered the drone "unflyable," and authorities smashed it into the water. The Russian plane's "reckless" intercept of the unmanned aircraft was criticised by the White House.
"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and the complete loss of the MQ-9," said U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.
Hecker claimed that the Russians' unsafe and unprofessional behaviour almost resulted in the collision of both aircraft. According to U.S. European Command, the incident involved two Russian fighter jets.
Tuesday, at around 2:03 a.m. EDT, one of the Russian jets collided with the drone's propeller.
"Because of the damage, we were in a position to effectively crash it into the Black Sea," Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.
According to European Command, the jets flew in front of the drone "in a dangerous, environmentally unsound, and unprofessional manner" before colliding with it. According to Ryder, a spokesman for the Pentagon, the Russian jet landed after the incident, but it most certainly sustained damage.
Where the jet landed was a secret, he said. Ryder called the unmanned aircraft a MQ-9 rather than a Reaper but would not specify whether it was armed.
Reapers are also flown by nations like France and Britain. According to the Air Force, Reapers can travel more than 1,100 miles at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and can be equipped with laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles.
According to Ryder, the drone involved in the incident on Tuesday was carrying out an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission. Ryder added that he didn't have any information to share at the time regarding a potential operation to recover the drone.
He added that authorities were examining incident imagery to see whether any might be made public. For its part, Moscow denied being to blame for the drone's crash.
Also Watch: