More Details on Downed US Drone

Following Tuesday's downing of a large US surveillance drone over the Black Sea, Washington has upped its diplomatic moves to stave of the possibility of Russia recovering the device over concerns for its sensitive technology. 

AP reports says both Washington and Moscow are already dishing out conflicting accounts of the encounter between the MQ-9 also known as Reaper, and the Russian Su-27 fighter jets. According to the reports, each is blaming the other, with a Pentagon spokesman raising the possibility of the Defense Department eventually declassifying and releasing video it has of the collision from which the drone has not been recovered. It did not add either if there is any ongoing effort to gather debris or pieces of the drone.

The Pentagon and U.S. European Command disclosed that two Russian Su-27 aircraft approached and dumped fuel on the MQ-9, while the latter was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace. They added that the Russian jets flew around and in front of the drone several times for between 30 and 40 minutes after which one of the Su-27 fighter aircraft "struck the propeller of the MQ-9, forcing U.S. forces to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.”

On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry said the U.S. drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded in an area that was declared off limits by Russian authorities. It added that the Russian military had to scramble its fighter jets to intercept the drone, claiming that “as a result of sharp maneuver, the U.S. drone went into uncontrollable flight with a loss of altitude and collided with water surface.”

Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, insists that the collision likely also damaged the Russian fighter jet even though the Su-27 was able to land. The Pentagon added that MQ-9 drone was “well clear” of any Ukrainian territory, but did not provide details. However, a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was operating west of Crimea over the Black Sea and was out to provide mission details. However, it is not clear if the collision was an accident or intentional even as both sides agree the Russian aircraft attempted to intercept the drone.

Since it's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russia has insisted that the broad areas near Crimea are off limits to flights. It charged that U.S. surveillance planes were flying too close to its borders, ignoring notices issued by Russia.

But U.S insists that the incident in which the Russian jets struck the propeller of the surveillance drone over the Black Sea is a “brazen violation of international law”. 

Meanwhile, a diplomatic row appears to have been triggered by Tuesday's Black Sea incident. On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department has summoned Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, to a meeting with the assistant secretary of state for Europe, Karen Donfried.

“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 U.S. aircraft,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

In addition, White House National Security spokesman, John Kirby, said the U.S. will be “expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept.” However, Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, is yet to have any talk with his Russian counterpart on the incident, Ryder said.

There are indications that Tuesday's incident is not the first time Russian aircrafts flew rather too close to U.S. aircraft in the Black Sea, prompting the Pentagon to publicly condemn the incident for putting the crews at risk. Russian jets reportedly crossed in front of a B-52 bomber flying over the area in 2020. The jets flew as close as 100 feet, 30 meters, in front of the bomber’s nose thereby causing turbulence.

AP reports also indicate tat Russian jets equally "buzzed U.S. warships during exercises in the Black Sea, the same they harangued the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, which had been taking part in a major exercise in 2021. 

Intercepts on the other hand, is routine. For instance, two Russian TU-95 bomber aircrafts were intercepted by U.S jets in international airspace off Alaska’s coast, which escorted the duo for 12 minutes out of the area. Russia has also carried out similar missions.