A Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, based on a press release by the U.S. army on Tuesday.
The fighter jet struck the propeller of the U.S. army “reaper” surveillance drone, forcing the U.S. to convey it down, the army mentioned.
“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,” mentioned U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.
“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
Russia’s protection ministry mentioned that its fighter jets didn’t come into contact with a U.S. drone that crashed into the Black Sea earlier, claiming as a substitute that the drone crashed as a consequence of “sharp maneuvering.”
“The Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their home airfield,” the protection ministry mentioned.
Russian intercepts over the Black Sea have been frequent, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby informed journalists in Washington, however this one “is noteworthy because of how unsafe and unprofessional it was, indeed reckless that it was”.
NATO diplomats in Brussels confirmed the incident however mentioned they didn’t anticipate it to right away escalate into an extra confrontation.
A Western army supply, chatting with AFP on situation of anonymity, mentioned that diplomatic channels between Russia and the United States might assist restrict any fall-out.
“To my mind, diplomatic channels will mitigate this,” the supply mentioned.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February final 12 months has led to heightened fears of a direct confrontation between Moscow and the Western NATO army alliance, which has been arming Kyiv to assist it defend itself.
News of a missile strike in jap Poland in November final 12 months briefly prompted alarm earlier than Western army sources concluded that it was a Ukrainian air defence missile that had malfunctioned, not a Russian one.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
