$32m Reaper drone shot down by Russian planes has sunk, US says: Pentagon reveals it has spoken to Russia and America will continue to fly wherever it can – including the U.S. above the Black Sea
- General Mark Milley said the downed drone broke up and likely sank in the Black Sea
- “We are convinced that everything that had value is no longer of value,” he said.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said he spoke to his Russian counterpart
The top US general on Wednesday dismissed Russian claims that he was trying to recover a downed US drone, saying it had likely broken up and sunk in thousands of feet of water.
In the first direct confrontation between Russia and the United States since the start of the war in Ukraine, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an MQ-9 unmanned aircraft, forcing operators to abandon the drone in the black Sea.
“It probably sank to significant depths, so any recovery operation from a technical perspective would be very difficult,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters.
Moscow insists its jet plane did not make contact with the $32 million drone and instead blames “sudden maneuvers” for the crash.
Experts say it was likely an accidental clash as the Russian pilots adopted increasingly aggressive tactics to force the drone to change course.
“It probably sank to significant depths, so any recovery operation from a technical perspective would be very difficult,” General Mark Milley told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday.
According to US officials, the MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 jets which dumped fuel on the drone before cutting off its propeller, forcing it to crash.
“We know the interception was intentional. We know the aggressive behavior was intentional,” Milley said, although it’s unclear if the collision itself was deliberate.
Even so, the incident over international waters has raised fears that such a mistake or misunderstanding could trigger an escalation of hostilities.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday during their first call since October.
“I just spoke on the phone with my Russian counterpart, Minister Shoigu,” Austin said during a Pentagon press briefing.
“As I have said many times, it is important that great powers be models of transparency and communication, and the United States will continue to fly and operate where international law permits.”
Russia said it made clear in the appeal that it sees things differently and that US air operations in the region pose a threat.
“It was noted that the flights of US strategic lethal drones by the Crimean coastline were provocative in nature and created preconditions for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea area,” the ministry statement said. of Defense after Shoigu’s phone conversation with Austin.
Earlier, the Kremlin said it would try to recover the remains of the drone.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) said he spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu (right) on Wednesday during their first call since October.
A Russian fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone (like the one seen above) over the Black Sea, the US military said on Tuesday.
Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets (file photo) carried out a ‘dangerous and unprofessional interception’ in international airspace, the United States said
“I don’t know if we can get it back or not, but it has to be done. And we will certainly work on it. I, of course, hope to succeed,” Kremlin Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told Rossiya-1 TV, according to Reuters.
However, Milley played down the prospect of losing sensitive technology. He said he was down in four or five thousand feet of water.
“We don’t have ships there. But we have many allies and friends in the region who will be involved in recovery operations,” he said.
“It’s American property, and we’ll leave it at that for now.”
“But he probably broke up. There’s probably not much to salvage, frankly,
“In terms of the loss of anything sentient…intelligence etc., as usual, we would take – and we have taken mitigating measures – so we are very confident that anything that had any value no longer has value.”
Milley and Austin added their voices to those of other officials who previously said the crash would not prevent the United States from flying anywhere international law permits, including over the Black Sea.
