Unfortunate event

A Russian fighter has collided with a US Reaper drone, forcing it down into the Black Sea, in what US forces called an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept.

A US European Command statement said the collision happened just after 7am on Tuesday morning, when two Russian Su-27 fighter jets flew up to the MQ-9 Reaper drone over international waters west of Crimea. The statement said the Russian pilots sought to disrupt the US aircraft before the collision.

“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the US statement said.

  Guardian

Environmentally unsound and unprofessional (para)war. Whoever heard of such a thing.

“In all likelihood the Reaper was conducting surveillance for Ukraine. Under the laws of armed conflict Russia may disrupt such assistance,” [Mary Ellen O’Connell, a Notre Dame Law School professor and expert on international law] said.

[...]

“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,” Gen James Hecker, the US air force commander for Europe and Africa, said. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

[...]

One of the Russian fighters then struck the drone’s propeller, “causing US forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters”.

[...]

The downing of the $32m drone triggered a race to recover the wreckage, as it contains some of the most advanced US technology and would be an intelligence windfall for Russia if it got to the aircraft first.

“To my knowledge, at this point in time, the Russians have not recovered that aircraft,” Gen Ryder said on Tuesday afternoon.

Who has?

The European Command statement warned: “These aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.”

Or perhaps intended.

“In this case, the SU-27 pilot is said to have hit the propeller, damaging the MQ-9 –probably a pass, intended to compel it to change course – that came too close.”

[...]

The European Command statement said that the incident was part of a “pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with US and allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea”.

[...]

[S]tate department spokesman, Ned Price, said the US had summoned the Russian ambassador to “convey our strong objections”.

[...]

Russia’s defence ministry denied there was any collision and suggested the drone was brought down through pilot mishandling.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE :  Pentagon released video from the drone.