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Kabul: A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, the US military says, claiming that the incident occurred in international airspace.
In a statement on Tuesday, US Air Force General James Hecker, who oversees the US Air Force in the region, said that the Russian warplane had hit the American drone earlier in the day.
“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,” he said, adding that the Russian fighter jet had clipped the propeller of the drone in the collision.
It is, however, not clear why the US drone was flying in the area at that time. According to a report, citing a quote from the US’s European Command, the Su-27s dumped fuel and flew in front of the American drone, suggesting a lack of competence.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone is a remotely-piloted aircraft that is primarily employed by the US Air Force for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Furthermore, the drone is also capable of carrying out strike operations with precision-guided missiles and bombs.
Russia denied causing the US drone to crash despite accusations from Washington, according to AFP.
The Russian defense ministry in Moscow said it detected an American MQ-9 drone over the waters of the Black Sea in the area of the Crimean peninsula, flying towards the Russian state border with its “transponders turned off”.
“The Russian fighters did not use their on-board weapons, made no contact with the UAV and safely returned to their home airfield,” the ministry said.
Moscow views the incident as a provocation, Russia’s RIA state news agency cited Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, as saying on Tuesday.
