(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Tuesday, two Russian fighter jets damaged a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, eventually causing the MQ-9 Reaper drone to be dropped in international waters.
Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, stated that the MQ-9 aircraft had been doing its “routine operations in international airspace” when it got intercepted and eventually was damaged by a Russian aircraft. As a result of the damage, the MQ-9 was brought down. Hecker noted that this practice by Russia was both “unsafe and unprofessional” as it almost led to both aircraft being brought down.
Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets tracked the U.S. surveillance drone while it was flying over international airspace over the Black Sea. The Black sea acts as a border between many countries, including Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia. Before the two aircraft collided, one of the Russian jets had “dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” as the statement from U.S. European Command disclosed.
Eventually one of the jets bumped the drone’s propeller causing it to fall. Two U.S. defense officials have stated that the Russian jet responsible for the collision had not been brought down but rather had been flown to Crimea. It has however been noted that the jet did experience some damage.
The officials added that this was the first time they had heard of fuel being dumped on a U.S. aircraft.
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