Amid the unprecedented collision of a Russian fighter jet with a US drone over the Black Sea, the United States and Russia presented conflicting claims over the cause of the drone crash. The two countries are fighting the truth.
The U.S. side insisted that its drones performed routine missions in international airspace (airspace such as flight information zones), while Russia countered that the drones had invaded Russian airspace.
“At 7:03 a.m. Central European Time (CET), a Russian Su-27 struck a US drone MQ-9 propeller and crashed into the open sea,” Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said in a briefing on the 14th (local time). ”he said.
The MQ-9 ‘Reaper’ is an unmanned attack aircraft developed by General Atomics, an American military company, and is an improved version of the MQ-1 ‘Predator’ model. It is possible to perform high-altitude reconnaissance missions through long-distance flight.
◆U.S. claims ‘routine reconnaissance mission in international airspace’
The United States highlighted Russia’s responsibility, saying that the MQ-9 collided with a Russian fighter during a routine reconnaissance mission in international airspace.
A spokesman for Ryder said at a briefing that day that a Russian fighter jet flew side by side with a US Reaper drone for 30 to 40 minutes before colliding with it, resulting in the drone crashing. He added that the crash was captured on video and he intends to make it public.
“According to the information I have, they (Russian fighters) appear to have been flying near the MQ-9 for about 30 to 40 minutes,” he said. I had no choice but to trill,” he said.
Rider said U.S. drones continued to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in international airspace over the Black Sea, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The bottom line is that such (threatening) behavior by Russian pilots is not uncommon,” he said, adding that Russia did not recover the downed drone.
“The MQ-9 was completely lost after colliding with a Russian fighter jet during a routine operation in international airspace,” said James Hacker, commander of the U.S. European Command Air Force. did,” he said.
White House National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby told reporters that US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident, saying that it is not uncommon for Russia to interfere with American aircraft or drone flights, but “this is our drone. This is the first time it has led to the fall of .
“I want to emphasize that the MQ-9 was on a mission in international airspace and posed no threat to anyone,” Kirby added.
“Russia’s actions violate international law,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The US State Department summoned Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov to the State Department to protest.
◆Russia refutes “unmanned aerial vehicles crossing borders”
Russia, on the other hand, insisted that its warplanes did not collide with American drones.
According to Rianovosti, the Russian Ministry of Defense argued that the US drone flew out of control without losing altitude and collided with the water, saying that the US drone crossed the airspace boundary and flew out of control.
“The Russian fighters did not use aerial weapons and did not collide with the drones,” he said. “The fighters returned safely to the airfield.”
Regarding this, Russian Ambassador Antonov said, “We view this incident as a (US) provocation.”
“Russia does not want a confrontation with the United States,” he said, but insisted that the skies above the Black Sea, where Russian warplanes and American drones collided, were Russia’s special military operation zone.
Ambassador Antonov said, “We warned not to enter or infiltrate (the area),” and asked again, “How will the US react if a Russian drone approaches New York or San Francisco?”
The Russian defense ministry insisted that the fighters did not fire their weapons at the US drones and there was no collision.
“Our fighters were scrambled to identify the drone,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. “The drone was flying in the direction of the border with the Russian Federation.”
◆Mirror relations are likely to further strain
While the war in Ukraine is showing signs of a proxy war between camps, the possibility that the US-Russia relationship will deteriorate more cannot be ruled out due to this incident.
In particular, the Joe Biden administration and US politicians criticized Russia for damaging the US MQ-9 by two Russian fighter jets in an unsafe and unprofessional manner.
It is unclear whether the incident was the result of Russian pilot error, but the US European Command warned that Russia’s actions were dangerous and could lead to miscalculations and unintended escalation of tensions.
Becca Wasser, a researcher at the Center for New American Security, a U.S. think tank, said, “There have been accidents caused by close flights between U.S. and Russian planes in the past, but this time the drone crashed is different.”
Researcher Wasser predicted in an interview with The Hill, “The area where the incident occurred (pollution) is a cause for concern, but since it (the accident plane) was an unmanned aerial vehicle, tensions will not increase explosively.”
He cited the case of Iran’s downing of an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone in 2019 as an example, and said it did not lead to a direct military response from the United States at the time.
Steven Twitty, a former lieutenant general in the U.S. Army Reserve and now a researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), pointed out that it is important for the U.S. to manage the tension so that it does not escalate further, saying that this case can be sufficiently resolved.
“What we must not do is rush the two countries into conflict,” Tweety said. “We cannot allow the Russians to provoke us into irrational behavior. We must control that neither the United States nor NATO directly intervene in the war.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.