A RUSSIAN JET COLLIDED WITH A DRONE OPERATED BY THE UNITED STATES OVER THE BLACK SEA. THE INCIDENT HAPPENED JUST AFTER 7AM CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME TUESDAY MORNING.
ACCORDING TO U.S EUROPEAN COMMAND, TWO SU-27 AIRCRAFT, LIKE THE ONES SEEN HERE, WERE CONDUCTING AN UNSAFE AND UNPROFESSIONAL INTERCEPT WITH A U.S AIR FORCE MQ-9 REAPER.
ACCORDING TO EUCOM, THE REAPER WAS FLYING AN INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE MISSION IN INTERNATIONAL AIR SPACE WHEN IT WAS INTERCEPTED AND HIT BY THE RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT. EUCOM SAID US FORCES HAD TO DOWN THE DRONE IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS.
BEFORE THE COLLISION, THE SU-27s REPORTEDLY DUMPED FUEL ON THE REAPER AND WERE FLYING IN WHAT THE AIR FORCE CALLED “RECKLESS, ENVIRONMENTALLY UNSOUND AND UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR.”
THE AIR FORCE WENT FURTHER IN ITS REBUKE OF THE RUSSIAN PILOTS, SAYING THEY DEMONSTRATED “A LACK OF COMPETENCE” WHICH COULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF BOTH THE REAPER AND THE RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT.
EUCOM SAID TUESDAY’S INTERACTION WITH THE JETS FOLLOWS A PATTERN BY RUSSIAN PILOTS WHILE INTERACTING WITH U.S. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT IN INTERNATIONAL AIRSPACE. BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME RUSSIAN AND US AIRCRAFT HAVE COLLIDED OVER THE BLACK SEA SINCE THE START OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE, MARKING WHAT COULD BE A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ESCALATION.
FOR MORE ON THE GROWING TENSIONS BETWEEN THE US AND RUSSIA, GET THE UNBIASED STRAIGHT FACTS AT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS DOT COM.
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