Russian fighter jet hits US drone over Black Sea; US calls it 'reckless'

The United States military claimed on Tuesday (March 14) that a Russian jet collided with an American drone over the Black Sea. Divulging details, the US military's European Command said that a Russian Su-27 jet fighter collided with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

US Air Force General James Hecker, the commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, 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".

Hecker further said that "this incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional".

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The statement mentioned that the incident happened at approximately 7:03am (CET). It also noted that several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on the drone and flew in front of it. The US Air Force called the incident "reckless" and "environmentally unsound".

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CNN quoted a US official familiar with the incident as saying that the Russian fighter jet damaged the propeller of the American drone. The official, whose identity was not revealed in the report, said that the Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when the incident occurred. One of the Russian jets "intentionally" flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

While responding to the incident, the National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that the Russian intercepts in the area are common, but this one "is noteworthy because of how unsafe and unprofessional it was, indeed reckless that it was".

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In the immediate aftermath, The US summoned Russia's ambassador to protest the crash, the State Department said. Spokesman Ned Price told reporters: "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."

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Russia denies causing crash

Russia's defence ministry denied causing the crash as it said that it scrambled fighter jets following the detection of a US drone over the Black Sea.

"As a result of a sharp manoeuvre... the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle entered an uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that its fighter jets "did not use their on-board weapons, made no contact with the UAV".

(With inputs from agencies)

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