Russian Fighter Aircraft Collides With US Drone Above Black Sea

A Russian fighter jet collided with a US surveillance drone in international airspace above the Black Sea, forcing the unmanned aircraft to crash, the US said.

Peter Martin

14 Mar 2023, 11:11 PM IST

INDIAN SPRINGS, NV - NOVEMBER 17: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been reviewed by the U.S. Military prior to transmission.) An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) flies by during a training mission at Creech Air Force Base on November 17, 2015 in Indian Springs, Nevada. The Pentagon has plans to expand combat air patrols flights by remotely piloted aircraft by as much as 50 percent over the next few years to meet an increased need for surveillance, reconnaissance and lethal airstrikes in more areas around the world. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)

(Bloomberg) -- A Russian fighter jet collided with a US surveillance drone in international airspace above the Black Sea, forcing the unmanned aircraft to crash, the US said.

The Su-27 aircraft, accompanied by a second Russian jet, struck the propeller of the MQ-9 Reaper drone in what was an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept at around 7 a.m. local time, US European Command said. The two Russian fighter jets flew in front of and dumped fuel on the drone before the strike, it said.

“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 complete loss of the MQ-9,” Air Force General James Hecker said. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

In February, the Pentagon scrambled fighter jets to counter four Russian aircraft that approached US airspace. The US military was on heightened alert following the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon and a series of other unidentified objects over US airspace.

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