Russia’s fighter plane Su-27 collided with US drone over Black sea.

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 drone over the Black sea which forced the US Air Force to bring down the drone. US Air Force General James Hecker stated that the MQ-9 aircraft was conducting its routine operations in international airspace when it collided with a Russian aircraft. “US and Allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians  to conduct themselves professionally and safely”, Hecker added.

US in a statement said that the incident happened when 2 Russian Su-27 aircraft flew in front of the MQ-9 in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner” they also stated that this incident shows Russia’s incompetence. The US military stated that the crash followed a pattern of “dangerous actions” by Russian pilots who were operating the fighter plane near the US drone over the Black sea.

MQ-9 Reaper drones are large unmanned aircraft which are made for high altitude surveillance. In the incident the propeller of the drone was damaged and drone landed in the Black Sea, westof Crimea as stated by US official, the Russian Su-27 was heading towards Crimea and landed there after the incident. The accident according to a press release from US Europe Command happened around 7.03 AM local time (EUCOM). The 2 Russian fighter planes made close passes over the drone 19 times in less than 30 mins during the last 3 or 4 of those flights the jets sprayed some jet fuel on the drone.

The Russian Defense Ministry gave a statement that there was no impact between the 2 aircraft and the US drone maneuvered abruptly before experiencing uncontrolled flight and falling into the Black sea. The ministry also stated that the Reaper was flying without transponders and had entered airspace that the Russian government had declared as restricted following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since last year.

This incident highlighted the rising tension between US and the West and raising fears that such an incident could result in a major conflict between the US and Russia.