Russian fighter jet forces down US drone over Black Sea Air Force 119th Wing MQ-9 Reaper flys over the airfield during Cope North 23 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. A Russian fighter aircraft “did not use airborne weapons or come into contact” with a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The Russians had given a different version of events. Patrick Ryder added Tuesday that the Russian aircraft flew “in the vicinity” of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before colliding just after 7 a.m. The aircraft then hit the propeller of the drone, prompting the drone’s remote operators to bring the MQ-9 drone down in international waters. The drone – a US-made MQ-9 Reaper – and two Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying over international waters over the Black Sea on Tuesday when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the unmanned aerial vehicle several times, a statement from US European Command said. Russian and US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea during Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but this is the first incident of its kind since the conflict began – and it threatens to heighten tensions between the two countries further.

The White House slammed Moscow’s actions Moscow’s actions as “unsafe, unprofessional and reckless” while Russia’s defense ministry denied its aircraft came into contact with the drone.īut dramatic footage that was declassified on Thursday seemingly shows the Russian jet emitting a plume of fuel over the drone, causing its camera systems to cut off. The US has released footage of the moment a Russian plane dumped fuel on a US drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday – a confrontation that has sparked a diplomatic spat and led to a race to recover some highly classified technology.