The United States and Russia are blaming each other for an incident which led to an American drone crashing into the Black Sea. Yesterday morning, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone. The US claimed that Russian aircraft struck the drone’s propellors, so US forces had to bring the Reaper down in international waters. Moscow has denied this, saying the US drone flew erratically and collided with the water’s surface.
US general James Hecker said the drone was conducting ‘routine operations’ when two Russian jets ‘dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner’. He also said that ‘this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash’.
The collision follows some close shaves: John Kirby of the US National Security Council said that ‘in recent weeks, there have been other intercepts but this one is noteworthy because of how unsafe and professional it was’.
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