This is the intense moment when a Russian fighter jet crashes into an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
Drone camera footage shows the terrifying confrontation with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet as the plane approaches from behind, cuts its propeller and dumps fuel on it in international airspace on March 14, 2023.
US forces had to shoot down the $32 million drone in international waters Tuesday night after the encounter, sparking a race between Moscow and Washington to retrieve it.
The new images released by the Pentagon follow Russian claims that its aircraft did not make contact with the drone, instead saying the drone crashed on its own after “sudden maneuvers”.
This is the first direct confrontation between Russia and the United States since the start of the war in Ukraine, near Crimea.
Video shows Russian fighter approaching US drone from behind and starting to release fuel as it passes – Pentagon says
Released footage shows moment Russian fighter dumped fuel on US drone
The 42-second clip shared today shows the drone making contact with a Russian jet plane.
One of two Russian jets flying over international waters comes to a halt on the drone, approaching from behind.
The jet is shown to dump fuel as it passes. Fuel dumping is typically used by aircraft in emergency situations to lose weight.
The UAV’s camera sustains damage before being forced to make an emergency landing in international waters below.
Moscow had previously said it would work to recover the wreckage of the $32 million drone in what would be a propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin, after warning earlier that it would “consider any action with weapons Americans as openly hostile”.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the United States was reviewing “images” collected from the area.
He also said the UAV may never be recovered from the crash site, admitting that the wreckage of the Reaper still lies in the Black Sea.
Kirby said US officials told Moscow to be more careful when flying in international airspace around US assets.
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has meanwhile accused the US of committing an ‘act of provocation’ after the $32million US surveillance drone was intercepted by two planes Su-27 fighter aircraft in international airspace.
Antonov has warned Washington that he must halt ‘hostile’ flights near his country’s border – or face the consequences.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, told reporters: “We know the interception was intentional.” We know the aggressive behavior was intentional.
It was unclear whether 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.
The plane begins to dump fuel on the drone before the camera takes damage
The drone’s camera stabilizes after the SU-27 passes, cutting its propeller
Video shows damage to drone after jet dumped fuel on it in Black Sea
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.
An American MQ-9 Reaper drone (left) and a Russian Su-27 fighter jet (right)
“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.”
The Sukhoi Su-27 is a Soviet twin-engine fighter in operation since 1977.
It is used by Russian Air Force, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force and others.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, often used for reconnaissance.
Sometimes referred to as Predator B, the MQ-9 can also be equipped with missiles to perform precision airstrikes.
