American MQ-9 Reaper drone flying over the Black Sea has crashed due to Russian fighter aircraft. The U.S. has called it an act of provocation.
A US official has confirmed that a Russian jet damaged the propeller of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone flying over the Black Sea on Tuesday, causing it to crash. The US has claimed that the Reaper drone was shot down by two Su-27 fighter jets of the Russian Air Force over international waters over the Black Sea. During this a jet flew in front of the Reaper and dumped fuel on it.
U.S official told the whole incident
The US official said that this damaged the propeller on the back of the MQ-9 Reaper drone. Due to this incident, the American drone fell into the sea itself. The US Air Force has issued a statement accusing the Russian fighter jets of reckless flying, environmental misconduct and unprofessional activity. After this incident, the planes of the US Air Force and Navy have been alerted.
Defence officials said the drone has not been recovered. But the Pentagon declined to say whether any effort was underway to gather debris or pieces of the Reaper.
US Air Force issued a statement
General James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a statement that at approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft hit the MQ-9’s propeller, causing it to crash. The US military had to bring down the MQ-9 in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident displays a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.
The US State Department summoned Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov to a meeting Tuesday with Karen Donfried, the assistant secretary of state for Europe.
“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,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
And White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the US will be “expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept.”
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