A Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. surveillance drone in international airspace above the Black Sea, forcing the American aircraft to crash, the U.S. said.
The Su-27 warplane, 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, U.S. 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 Gen. James Hecker said. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident and called the Russian maneuver “reckless.”
“If the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying, operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, then that message will fail,” Kirby said. “And we’re going to continue to do what we need to do for our own national security interests in that part of the world.”
Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher Cavoli briefed NATO allies on the incident, according to a NATO official.
Last week, Norwegian Col. Eirik Guldvog said Russian behavior in the Baltic and Black Sea regions has been “a little bit more aggressive.”
“It can be more aggressive flying, closer,” he said. “A little bit more aggressive behavior, flying like you are preparing to launch weapons for instance without using weapons.”
In February, the Pentagon scrambled fighter jets to counter four Russian aircraft that approached U.S. airspace. The U.S. military was on heightened alert following the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon and a series of other unidentified objects over U.S. airspace.
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(With assistance from Jordan Fabian and Natalia Drozdiak.)
