Washington. March 17. INTERFAX - The United States is assessing the losses and benefits from its operations with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Black Sea area after the recent incident with an American drone, CNN reported, citing several sources from among officials.
The US military is "studying the UAV routes and assessing how to reduce the risk of conflict with the Russian military," as Russian aviation operates in the Crimea region, the TV channel notes.
The Pentagon plans to analyze the overall costs and benefits of these missions, comparing the potential intelligence value of a particular route with the risk of escalation of relations with Russia.
According to a senior source, some US military personnel are concerned that restricting the routes of unmanned aerial vehicles will affect the collection of intelligence related to the situation around Ukraine, "but the US has potential alternatives for intelligence collection, such as spy satellites."
Sources noted that until the analysis of the situation is completed, the United States will continue to fly drones. One of them - the same model as the one that collapsed into the sea - has already been sent to the area of the incident. His task is to survey the crash site and monitor the actions of Russia, which is trying to detect the wreckage.
On Tuesday, the European Command of the US Armed Forces reported that, according to its data, the American MQ-9 Reaper drone fell into the Black Sea after it was hit by a Russian Su-27 fighter.
