An incident involving Russian aircraft and a US drone in the Black Sea may be the most publicly acknowledged confrontation between the US and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago.
An incident involving Russian aircraft and a US drone in the Black Sea may be the most publicly acknowledged confrontation between the US and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago.
The United States has accused Russia of reckless behavior after a US drone crashed in the Black Sea following an encounter with Russian fighter jets.
Before the collision, the Russian jets would have dumped fuel in the trajectory of the drone which according to the US was in international airspace.
The damaged MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down by the United States itself after it became “uncontrollable,” the Pentagon said.
Russia has denied that its two Su-27 fighter jets have made any contact.
The key question is whether the meeting was just an attempt by Russia to stall the US drone or was it a deliberate attempt to shoot it down.
US military officials said the incident happened at around 7:03am Central European Time (03:03am GMT) on Tuesday (March 14). The alleged confrontation lasted about 30 to 40 minutes.
Several times before the collision, the fighter jets dumped fuel on the drone in a “reckless, environmentally harmful and unprofessional manner,” a statement said.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters the drone had become “unfeasible and uncontrollable, so we shot it down,” adding that the collision likely damaged the Russian plane as well.
The episode raises many questions, despite Russia denying that its planes have come into direct contact with the drone.
John Kirby of the US National Security Council (NSC) said there had been more interceptions of Russian planes “in recent weeks”, although this episode was different.
Could it have been an accident?
“Based on the actions of Russian pilots, it is clear that [a ação deles] it was dangerous, unprofessional,” Ryder said. “I think the actions speak for themselves.”
According to the Pentagon, the incident lasted between 30 and 40 minutes.
Ryder said there was no direct communication between the Russian and US militaries during that time.
US officials say they believe the Russian Su-27 jets involved in the crash “probably” sustained damage, indicating the collision was not intentional.
“I understand the State Department is raising our concerns about the incident directly with the Russian government,” Ryder said.
What does this episode mean, if anything, for the future of US drone operations in Black Sea surveillance in support of Ukraine?
“If the message is that they want to discourage us from flying or operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, then that message is going to fail because it’s not going to happen,” Kirby said.
Surveillance
Russia may try to make the work of Ukraine’s allies more difficult.
Washington remains silent on what happened to the drone.
Having collided with Russian ships, American remote pilots were forced to shoot it down in the Black Sea.
Ryder did not say where the plane went down or if the Russian navy was trying to recover it.
Audio recordings circulating on social media appear to indicate that some sort of Russian rescue operation was underway. But this has not been confirmed.
Clearly, Washington does not want such sensitive surveillance technology to fall into Russian hands.
For US President Joe Biden, who is determined to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary”, this is a delicate moment.
It’s not just Western weapons that are helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.
It is also real-time intelligence technology on Russia’s military operations, including the movement of ships in the Black Sea and the launch of targeted missiles in Ukraine.
From defending Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure to planning its own offensive operations, Kiev relies heavily on this constant flow of information.
For obvious reasons, US officials will not disclose any extra precautions their surveillance operations will now require.
Washington wants to continue its operations, but wants to avoid the use of force and risks being drawn into a more direct confrontation with Moscow.
Source: Terra
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