The European Command of the US Armed Forces has released footage of Tuesday’s collision between a US surveillance drone and a Russian fighter jet as they flew over the Black Sea.
The video shows critical moments in the mid-air encounter between the two planes, which the Pentagon said lasted between 30 and 40 minutes.
The video shows the MQ-9 Reaper drone’s camera pointing backwards toward the tail and the propeller spinning at the back of the plane. Then the Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter is seen approaching and dropping fuel in intercepting the US drone.
The European command of the US military released footage earlier this week of the encounter between a Russian Air Force Su-27 jet and a US MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea.
US said the operators remotely erased the drone’s sensitive software.#Pentagon #Russians… https://t.co/sXg7LaeU06 pic.twitter.com/Cr6t0ibYMX
– PhoenixCNE News (@PhoenixCNE_News) March 16, 2023
The video is cut short when the Russian fighter jet collides with the MQ-9 Reaper, damaging the propeller and forcing the US to shoot down the drone in the Black Sea, but Russia denies any collision occurred.
When the video resumes, the camera is rearranged again and the propeller is shown with collision damage.
With a damaged propeller, the United States shot down the drone in international waters southwest of Crimea.
As the drone fell, operators remotely erased sensitive software, reducing the risk of classified material falling into enemy hands before the plane hit the water.
On Wednesday, National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby told CNN that the drone had not been recovered and that he was “not sure” the US would be able to.
Moscow made it clear that it would attempt to recover the wreckage of the drone, with Russian representatives already on the scene.
Source: DN
