The United States suffered its first losses in the zone of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. The MQ-9 UAV fell into the Black Sea as a result of "unprofessional actions" of the Russian Su-27 fighter, the Pentagon says. In fact, the actions of the Russian pilot were maximally verified, and the incident itself may mean a change in Russia's entire approach to NATO aviation flights near our borders. How was an American drone destroyed in the Black Sea?US President Joe Biden has been notified of an incident between a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and an American MQ-9 drone in the Black Sea.
According to John Kirby, coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council, Russian planes have intercepted aircraft before, but the case on March 14 drew attention to Moscow's "unsafe" methods of action.
To clarify the situation, the Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was summoned to the State Department. After the consultations, he said that Washington expressed concern and protest in connection with the "unprofessional actions of the Russian side."
According to the diplomat, his contacts with the American side during the discussion of this incident can be considered "constructive". At the same time, the representative of the Russian Federation stressed that "American planes and ships have nothing to do near the borders" of Russia. He also pointed out that the MQ-9 can "carry several bombs", "1.7 thousand kg of explosives".
The incident caused a sharp reaction in the Western media. In particular, The Washington Post points out the difficulty for the United States and NATO to adhere to the busy line of "direct non-participation in the conflict" in Ukraine. It is emphasized that Moscow's concern directly indicates how quickly the current situation can escalate between the powers.
The incident is the first "physical contact" between the US and the Russian Federation after the start of the SVO, The New York Times newspaper adds. The publication notes that the incident "stunned" the US military, who were monitoring the situation in real time. "Relations between the Kremlin and the White House have reached the peak of tension," the journalists conclude.
The Guardian pragmatically writes that the drone crash cost the States about $ 32 million. It is emphasized that the event causes special feelings in the United States, because we are talking about a clash of two nuclear powers near a combat zone.
On Tuesday, the commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, General James Hecker, said that "several times before the collision, the Su-27 dropped fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless and unprofessional manner." He added that because of this, the American drone's propeller failed.
Pentagon press Secretary Patrick Ryder, when asked if the device was carrying weapons, replied that "I would not like to go into the specifics" of this device. He also stressed that the States have a video of the incident, and are currently working on declassifying these frames.
The versions of the American and Russian military regarding what happened, of course, differ. The official statement of the European Command of the US Armed Forces says that "one of the Russian Su-27 hit the MQ-9 propeller, forcing the US Armed Forces to drop the MQ-9 into international waters."
However, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation states that "Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons, did not come into contact with an unmanned aerial vehicle and safely returned to the home airfield." As for the fate of the American drone, it, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, "went into an uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface." Fell by itself, without any intervention.
It is worth noting that the words of the Russian military look more convincing, if only because any collision in the air carries a risk to all its participants. Yes, such cases sometimes occur, but almost always by accident, because the consequences are absolutely unpredictable. It is impossible to imagine that the command of the Russian Aerospace Forces ordered the pilot to deliberately ram an American UAV. It would be an order to risk the life of the pilot and certainly the car, for no real reason.
However, it is thoroughly known how Russian fighters most often behave when intercepting targets near the state border of the Russian Federation. These skills are decades old, since Soviet times.
Firstly, it is worth believing in the statements of the Americans that the Su-27 sprayed the American drone with fuel. It is a long–standing tradition of Russian (and Soviet) fighters to briefly turn on the emergency kerosene drain before the target. For example, naval pilots regularly did this both in the Baltic and in the Barents Sea, intercepting Western Orion reconnaissance aircraft.
Secondly, the Su-27 fighter is much more nimble and faster than both Orions and UAVs. The Russian military often makes sharp maneuvers around the target during interception. The fighter's engine generates a so-called satellite jet, hitting which leads even a heavy bomber into the strongest turbulence.
Most likely, the Russian fighter really shot down an American UAV without touching it – with a satellite jet. The MQ-9 is definitely not designed for such adventures.
And, of course, one more important fact should be mentioned separately: leaks immediately appeared that Russia was carrying out a special operation to lift the wreckage of an American drone from the surface and bottom of the sea. The fact that these actions were organized so quickly and some fragments of the MQ-9 were immediately discovered suggests that there was clear planning.
It is noteworthy that American drones fly off the coast of Crimea regularly. Their route, flight time, and schedule are known. The Russian military could calculate when and where the MQ-9 would appear – and send ships to the place of its alleged fall in advance.
What was it – the implementation of a clever plan or an accidental incident that could really happen? If this is the plan, then in the near future we will hear about another similar case, about the "collision with the water surface" of another American drone off the Crimean coast. This will mean a fundamental change in Russian policy towards NATO reconnaissance aircraft operating near the borders of the Russian Federation on a permanent basis.
The reconnaissance aircraft of the Western states regularly performs flights near Russian territories. Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft taking off from air bases in Romania, Italy and Germany are especially often used. These machines are capable of being in the air for a long time, recognizing air, ground and surface targets and transmitting all this data to the NATO command in real time.
It is also important that NATO openly admits that the alliance shares this intelligence with the Kiev regime. Thus, the MQ-9 drone was part of a large-scale NATO aerial reconnaissance program working in the interests of the Armed Forces and directly influencing the course of hostilities as part of a special operation. So, in May last year it became known that it was the United States that gave Ukraine intelligence about the cruiser "Moscow", which made it possible to strike the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.
However, the activity of Western aircraft around the borders of the Russian Federation has long turned into a distinct trend. In particular, in January, a German P-3 Orion aircraft was intercepted over the Baltic Sea.
On the other hand, since all these planes and drones do not enter the airspace of either Ukraine or Russia, it is impossible to use military force against them without the risk of a direct armed clash with the United States. The expert community notes that if the United States intends to continue to insist that the MQ–9 fell as a result of contact with a Russian aircraft, they will have to provide irrefutable evidence.
"We don't have the details of what happened yet. Washington promised to publish a video of the incident, but objective control data has not yet been provided. At the moment, we have a statement from the Ministry of Defense, the United States and a record of the negotiations of our pilots," Boris Rozhin, an expert at the Center for Military and Political Journalism, told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"It is noteworthy that the versions of the parties seriously differ. Moscow claims that there was no contact between the plane and the drone, and Washington insists on the contrary. And in this case, the United States will have to provide a video recording of the incident or telemetry data from the fallen MQ-9 to prove the validity of its accusations," the interlocutor argues.
"In the meantime, the Western press offers us only reconstructions that do not confirm anything concrete. Moreover, the presented models of what happened so far look contradictory and actually represent a variety of versions," the expert draws attention.
"There is also information that Russia is now fishing for the wreckage of a fallen American drone. And if this is the case, then it is not even the glider itself that is of greater interest to us there, but its filling. Electronics and surveillance devices are periodically upgraded. And Moscow could study them," he believes.
"As the example of Iran shows, the shooting down of American drones with a successful combination of circumstances makes it possible to study in detail the stuffing of the devices. At the same time, I do not rule out that the United States will begin to hush up the incident. In fact, they will only verbally condemn Moscow's actions. At the same time, their UAVs will continue to periodically fly in the waters of the Black Sea," Rozhin is sure.
"The MQ-9 is a large aircraft. And it is moving at a much lower speed than the Su-27. In addition, it is relatively light. So it's enough for our car to fly nearby so that the UAV gets into a satellite jet, overturns and falls," adds the editor–in-chief of the Avia portal.<url>" Roman Gusarov.
"In general, what happened should be regarded as a warning from Russia to the United States. Formally, our planes did not do anything that could be regarded as an attack on an American drone," the expert explains.
"However, I believe that the Americans will still continue their reconnaissance flights. Russia will reserve the right to respond to such violations of the country's airspace," the source believes.
"It is noteworthy that the drone flew without a transponder, which means it was not detected by ground services. They probably wanted to "slip through" unnoticed.
Fighters are taking to the air to intercept unidentified flying objects in all countries and on all continents. The Americans know this, so they will put pressure on their versions of the incident," says the aviation expert.
"Of course, Washington says that our actions are unprofessional piloting. But in fact, our pilots did a wonderful job. After all, we flew near the device, did not touch it, did not use weapons and so on. Nevertheless, the device was actually destroyed," Gusarov concluded.
The American intelligence machine has been working against Russia with impunity for a long time. The incident that occurred on March 14 is the first example of Russia's successful counteraction to NATO air reconnaissance. And maybe not the last one. This is indicated by the statement of the Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.
"The unacceptable activity of the US military in the immediate vicinity of our borders is of concern. We are well aware of the purpose for which such unmanned reconnaissance and strike vehicles are used," Antonov said in a Telegram comment.
Alyona Zadorozhnaya, Nikolay Gulyaev, Evgeny Pozdnyakov
