LAST UPDATE | 14 Mar 2023

A RUSSIAN SU-27 fighter jet dumped fuel on an unmanned American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea and then collided with it, causing the drone to crash, the US military has said.

US European Command said two Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper over international waters and one clipped its propeller.

“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” it said.

US Air Force General James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa 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.

“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash,” he said.

Moscow denied causing the crash of the drone, which the Pentagon said was on a routine ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) mission.

“As a result of a sharp manoeuvre… the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle entered an uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the two Russian jets had no contact with the US aircraft and did not use their weapons.

US officials have condemned the incident.

NATO diplomats in Brussels confirmed the incident, but said they did not expect it to immediately escalate into a further confrontation.

A Western military source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that diplomatic channels between Russia and the United States would be activated.

“To my mind, diplomatic channels will mitigate this,” the source said.

The United States uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes, and has long operated over the Black Sea keeping an eye on Russian naval forces.

Russian intercepts in the area are common, but this one “is noteworthy because of how unsafe and unprofessional it was, indeed reckless that it was,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.

Kirby said US President Joe Biden had been briefed about the incident, and that the State Department would express Washington’s concerns to Moscow.

“We don’t need to have some sort of check-in with the Russians before we fly in international airspace. There’s no requirement to do that, nor do we do it,” he added.

The situation in the region has become only become more tense in the past 12 months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Western-backed Ukraine.

Politico journalist Laura Seligman, citing sources at EUCOM, said that “a Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of a U.S. MQ-9 drone, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters”.

BREAKING: This morning, a Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of a U.S. MQ-9 drone, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters, according to @US_EUCOM.

— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) March 14, 2023

 
“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.”

EUCOM stated that “these aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous & could lead to miscalculation & unintended escalation”.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists the drone was “unflyable and uncontrollable so we brought it down”, adding that the collision also likely damaged the Russian aircraft, which he said was able to land following the incident.

Reapers drones can be armed with Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs and can fly for more than 1,770 kilometres at altitudes of up to 15 kilometres according to the US Air Force.

The United States has summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest the crash, the State Department said.

“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned US aircraft,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

The Russian ambassador in Washington has been convened at the State Department this afternoon and the American ambassador in Moscow has registered a “strong objection,” he said.

With reporting from Jamie McCarron

 © AFP 2023