The images confirm Washington’s version that the Moscow plane deliberately hit the drone, which ended up at the bottom of the sea.
USA declassified material to show how his version of events between two Russian fighters and one of his drones on Tuesday in the Black Sea is correct.
The drone, according to Washington, was intercepted by two Russian fighters. In a video revealed this Thursday by the Pentagon, you can see how one of the Moscow bombers sand approach the drone at full speedslams on the brakes in midair to deliberately approach the drone, spray it with fuel, y seems to hit him in the propeller knocking him out of play.
The United States then decided to shoot down its own drone, plunging it into the Black Sea so that its technology would be out of Russian reach.
The video of about 42 seconds shows how the drone seems to turn off: its propeller stops turning. And the ship, consequently, stop transmitting images.
The Pentagon said it shot down the drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, after the Russian plane dumped fuel on the aircraft in an attempt to blind it by its optical instruments, drive it out of the area and hit its propeller.
The video does not show the events leading up to the incident.
While air interceptions are not rare, the incident framed in the war in Ukraine raised concerns that Russia and the United States come into direct conflict.
Is that the incident further increased tension between Russia and the United States. Washington said that he will continue his surveillance flights in the Black Sea.
“Make no mistake: United States will continue to fly and operate where international law allowsAustin said in remarks at the start of a virtual meeting of some 50 nations supporting Ukraine’s efforts in the war against Russia.
From the beginning, the Pentagon and the US European Command said that dRussian Su-27 aircraft they dumped fuel on the MQ-9, which was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.
They explained that the Russian planes they flew around and in front of the drone several times for 30-40 minutes and then one of the Russian planes “hit the propeller of the MQ-9causing US forces to shoot down the MQ-9 in international waters.”
Air Force General James Hecker, commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, said the actions of the Russian plane “almost caused both planes to crash.”
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the collision likely damaged the Russian fighter as well, but the Su-27 was able to land. He would not say where he did it.
The Moscow version
Moscow He had another version of what happened.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the US drone was flying close to the Russian border and entered a no-fly zone declared by Russian authorities. The Russian army sent fighters to intercept it. He stated that “as a result of a sudden maneuver, the American drone started an uncontrollable flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water”.
Russia has established a flight ban in large areas near Crimea. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and long before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Moscow has denounced US surveillance planes flying too close to its borders while ignoring Russian warnings.
Countries routinely operate in international airspace and waters, and no country can set limits on territories located outside its borders.
According to the Ministry, Russian planes moved to intercept the drone, but did not use their weapons and “did not come into contact” with it.
What is an MQ-9 Reaper?
The MQ-9 Reaper is a large unmanned aircraft of the Air Force that is operated remotely by a two-person team. It includes a ground control station and satellite equipment and has a wingspan of 20 meters. The team is made up of a qualified pilot responsible for piloting the aircraft and a military crew member in charge of managing the sensors and guiding the weapons.
With information from BBC News and Associated Press
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