This is the first direct incident between the United States and Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. On Tuesday March 14, a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter collided with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, causing the latter to lose control and fall. “Our drone was performing routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in the crash and loss of the MQ-9”said General James Hecker, commander of the American air forces in Europe, in a press release published at the end of the afternoon.
According to Washington, two Russian Su-27s repeatedly approached the American Reaper “recklessly” and have “spilled fuel” in front of him, no doubt to blind him, before a shock to the propeller led the American army to rush the unarmed device into the waters. An act “thoughtless”, ” Not professional “ And ” dangerous “, said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council. The American official clarified that several similar interceptions had taken place over the Black Sea in recent weeks, but that the destruction of the Reaper was a first.
In a press release published Tuesday evening, the Russian Minister of Defense denied any involvement of his aircraft in the fall, assuring that if his fighters had been well in front of the Reaper, they were not “didn’t get in touch” with him and had “not used airborne weapons” to shoot him down. According to Moscow, the drone was flying “transponders off” And “violated a temporary airspace use regime area” set by Russia to conduct its military operations. Following the crash, an American maritime reconnaissance plane P-8A Poseidon was flying in a circle on Tuesday off the Romanian coast, probably to check if Russian ships were trying to recover debris from the device.
“It’s like the Wild West”
Since the start of the war, the West has been sending spy planes over the Black Sea almost daily, in order to collect optical, radar or electromagnetic intelligence on Russian positions and operations, which is then provided to the army in Kiev. Legal actions – the aircraft remain in international airspace – but which annoy the Russians, sometimes tempted to intimidate them. On September 29, 2022, a Russian Su-27 had already fired a missile near a British RC-35 intelligence aircraft patrolling over the Black Sea, without hitting it. Moscow had pleaded a “technical malfunction”.
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