Ukraine War: Shock video shows Russian jet collide with US drone in major escalation
Wild footage of a Russian fighter jet colliding with a US drone furthered fears the Ukraine war was spiralling into a global conflict. Watch video.
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Insane video footage of a Russian fighter jet colliding with a US drone revealed a close-up look at the unprecedented air-to-air engagement between the two super powers.
The Sukhoi Su-27 can be seen dumping fuel in the path of the MQ-9 Reaper drone before clipping the aircraft and briefly knocking out the video feed, which quickly returns to show the damaged propeller.
It comes as Russian media claims an underwater robot has located the wreckage.
The major escalation amid the backdrop of the Ukraine war comes just weeks after the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon over American territory, furthering fears of a dangerous spiral into global conflict.
The 42-second video was declassified and released by the Pentagon after Russia denied responsibility for the incident, which the US said left the drone uncontrollable.
The US called the attempt to harass the drone seen in the video, which was edited for length, “unsafe” and “unprofessional”.
The jet bears down with two passes of the drone with two fuel dumps before the collision on the second pass. The video is then interrupted — a cut the US military said lasts for 60 seconds – before the feed returns, part of the drone’s propeller is missing.
The US crashed the drone into the Black Sea after the collision.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had scrambled jets on Tuesday after detecting a US drone over the Black Sea, but denied causing the crash, saying the aircraft had lost control.
The Pentagon said the drone was on a routine mission when it was intercepted — a term that refers to one aircraft making visual or electronic contact with another — in a “reckless” and “unprofessional manner.”
The incident has ratcheted up tensions between Moscow and Western allies, already soaring over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but top security officials from the United States and Russia have been in touch.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu while Moscow’s defence ministry said General Staff Valery Gerasimov spoke to General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“We take any potential for escalation very seriously and that’s why I believe it’s important to keep the lines of communication open,” Austin said after his call with Shoigu.
“I think it’s really key that we’re able to pick up the phone and engage each other. And I think that will help to prevent miscalculation going forward.”
Milley said it was unclear whether the collision was done on purpose, though the “aggressive behaviour” was intentional.
Russia on Wednesday said it planned to try to retrieve the downed craft but was unsure if the effort would be a success.
Milley said the drone likely broke up and sank in an area where the water is 4,000-5,000 feet (1,200-1,500 meters) deep.
Even if Russia was able to recover the wreckage, the United States took “mitigating measures” to protect sensitive information, and is “confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value,” he said.
The United States uses MQ-9s for both surveillance and strikes and has long operated over the Black Sea, keeping an eye on Russian naval forces.
Several of the drones have been lost in recent years, including one that the US Central Command said was shot down over Yemen with a surface-to-air missile in 2019.
US-RUSSIA SCRAMBLE FOR DRONE AMID SPY CLAIMS
Moscow has confirmed it will try to retrieve the wreckage of a US military drone that crashed over the Black Sea in an interception by two Russian fighter jets – as Washington races to stop them from “getting their hands on it”.
Russia warned against “hostile” US flights but denied its Su-27 military aircraft had clipped the propeller of the unmanned Reaper drone.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine said that the incident over international waters on Tuesday was evidence the Kremlin wants to draw the US into the conflict in Ukraine.
But Russia denied its planes came “into contact” with the drone and said the US was to blame, accusing it of a provocation by conducting surveillance near Russian airspace to help Ukraine.
“Flights of American strategic unmanned aerial vehicles off the coast of Crimea are provocative in nature, which creates preconditions for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea zone,” the Russian ministry said.
“Russia is not interested in such a development of events, but it will continue to respond proportionately to all provocations.”
Russian authorities said they hoped to recover the debris of the drone.
“I don’t know whether we’ll be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done. And we will certainly work on it,” Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in televised remarks.
National Security Council co-ordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told CNN that the US military has already moved to “protect our equities” and that they did not want anyone else “getting their hands on (the drone)”.
“Without getting to too much detail, what I can say is that we’ve taken steps to protect our equities with respect to that particular drone, that particular aircraft and its United States property,” Mr Kirby said. “
“We obviously don’t want to see anybody getting their hands on it beyond us.”
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had spoken on the phone with his Russian counterpart Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu after the incident in the Black Sea.
He did not disclose any details about the conversation but described the downing of the US drone by Russian warplanes as part of a pattern of “aggressive, risky and unsafe” behaviour.
Speaking at a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to speak to the motive or intent behind the incident, saying he would let the investigation proceed.
“What I can say very clearly is this was a reckless and unsafe action,” he added.
Mr Blinken said the US is “in close co-ordination” with allies and partners on the matter.
The crash on Tuesday, which Washington said was the fault of reckless and unprofessional Russian conduct, further ratcheted up tensions between Moscow and Western allies, already soaring over the Ukraine conflict.
Mr Patrushev, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed the incident was further proof that the US is a direct party to fighting between Moscow and Kyiv and said Russia had a responsibility to “defend our independence and our sovereignty”.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had scrambled jets after detecting a US drone over the Black Sea and denied causing the crash.
The Pentagon said the drone was on a routine mission when it was intercepted “in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner”.
Russia said the aircraft had lost control but Mr Kirby said the US “obviously” refuted the denial.
He added the US was trying to prevent the fallen drone from getting into the wrong hands.
“We’ve taken steps to protect our equities with respect to that particular drone – that particular aircraft,” Mr Kirby told CNN.
UK, GERMAN JETS RUSH TO INTERCEPT RUSSIAN PLANE
British and German fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian aircraft flying near Estonian airspace on Tuesday — just hours after the US military had to ditch a surveillance drone in the Black Sea following an encounter with two more of Moscow’s warplanes.
The Typhoon jets from the two NATO allies were dispatched to escort an IL78 Midas air-to-air refuelling plane after it failed to communicate with air traffic controllers in Estonia, London’s defence ministry announced.
After making a visual identification and escorting the refuelling plane, the two jets were sent to intercept an AN 148-passenger airliner that was also passing near Estonian airspace.
The intercept of the Il78 Midas flying between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad was routine as part of the alliance’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK stressed.
It comes as British pilots conduct joint air policing missions in Estonia alongside the German air force for the first time as the UK prepares to take over the lead in NATO missions in the Baltic state, which borders Russia.
“NATO continues to form the bedrock of our collective security,” said Armed Forces Minister James Heappey.
“This joint UK and German deployment in the Baltics clearly demonstrates our collective resolve to challenge any potential threat to NATO’s borders, while demonstrating our combined strength.”
A Typhoon pilot from the RAF’s IX (Bomber) Squadron, who was not named by the Ministry of Defence, said: “We were scrambled to intercept an aircraft that was approaching Estonian airspace. We identified and monitored it as it transited close to NATO airspace.
“Any aircraft that are not communicating with Air Traffic Control or on a recognised flight plan will be intercepted by us to ensure we know who they are and maintain flight safety for all airspace users.
“As a fighter pilot this was a routine business, even though I was flying alongside a German colleague.
“It is clear that all of our training and hard work paid off as we seamlessly operated together.”
Commander of the RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, Wing Commander Scott Maccoll, said it had been “great” to see UK and German forces “operate as one team”.
RUSSIA-US COME TO BLOWS OVER DOWNED DRONE
A Russian fighter jet deliberately dumped fuel on an American drone over the Black Sea then rammed into it, causing the drone to crash, according to the US military.
It says the drone was on a routine surveillance mission in international airspace when two Russian Su-27 jets intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper over international waters and one clipped its propeller.
The US European Command said the crash on Tuesday was the result of an “unprofessional act by the Russians”.
“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” it said.
The incident marks the first time Russian and US military aircraft have come into direct contact since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago and is likely to increase tensions between the two nations.
Russia denied causing the crash of the drone, which the Pentagon said was on a routine ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance)
mission.
“As a result of a sharp manoeuvre … the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle entered an uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water,” the Russian Defence Ministry said, adding that the two Russian jets had no contact with the US aircraft and did not use their weapons.
The US State Department said it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest.
“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned US aircraft,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Speaking at the Pentagon, US Air Force Gen Pat Ryder said US forces routinely fly over international airspace to “bolster collective European defence and security” with allies.
Asked whether or not the incident was an accident, Mr Ryder said: “We are continuing to assess exactly what happened.”
“I think the actions speak to themselves,” he added.
Mr Ryder refused to be drawn on specifics about whether or not the aircraft – which was conducting an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission in international airspace – was armed.
“Intercepts are not that common, but this type of behaviour from Russian pilots is uncommon,” he said.
NATO diplomats in Brussels said they did not expect the incident to immediately escalate into a further confrontation.
According to U.S. European Command, early this morning a Russian Su-27 conducted an Interception of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper on Mission over the Black Sea, at some point the Russian Aircraft collided with the Drone causing the Drone to Crash into the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/knexGGGr7i
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 14, 2023
A Western military source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that diplomatic channels between Russia and the US would be activated.
“To my mind, diplomatic channels will mitigate this,” the source said.
The US uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes, and has long operated over the Black Sea keeping an eye on Russian naval forces.
Tensions have risen in the region ever since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The situation in the region has worsened in the past 12 months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Western-backed Ukraine.
“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,” said US Air Force General James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.
“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.
“US and allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely.”
MORE - @US_EUCOM: Russian aircraft collides into US unmanned system in international waters. pic.twitter.com/E19pn6RYWU
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 14, 2023
Several US Reapers have been lost in recent years, including to hostile fire. One was shot down in 2019 over Yemen with a surface-to-air missile fired by Huthi rebels, the US Central Command said at the time.
According to media reports, a US MQ-9 crashed in Libya in 2022, while another went down during a training exercise in Romania earlier in the same year.
Reapers can be armed with Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs and can fly for more than 1,100 miles at altitudes of up to 15,000 metres (50,000 feet), according to the US Air Force.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Ukraine War: Shock video shows Russian jet collide with US drone in major escalation
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