ANALYSIS – In what appears to be a major yet asymmetrical escalation by Moscow, Russian Su-27 fighter aircraft intercepted a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone in international airspace over the Black Sea not far from Ukraine.
After numerous aggressive and reckless maneuvers, including dumping fuel on it, the Russian jets managed to clip the unmanned drone’s propeller, requiring the Air Force to take the drone down.
The incident follows numerous instances of Russia making unsafe intercepts of U.S. aircraft above the Baltic and Black Seas and elsewhere.
The Russians have long seen the Black Sea as their own national lake.
While the Russians routinely engage in this type of behavior, the downing of this drone, however, was “unique,” said John Kirby, Joe Biden’s spokesman at the National Security Council (NSC).
This direct and deliberate hostile action by the Kremlin appears to be the first time a Russian aircraft has brought down a U.S. aircraft since the Cold War.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a serious act. It is in some ways more so now as the U.S. and most of NATO are waging a defensive proxy war against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
But, largely because of that, don’t expect any immediate or serious response from Team Biden.
However, what this does show is Vladimir Putin’s willingness to raise the stakes and take more risks against even U.S. military aircraft near its borders and Ukraine.
The closest analogy in recent years might be Communist China’s similarly reckless aerial actions in 2001 which resulted in what became known as the Hainan Island incident.
That occurred on April 1, 2001, when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese J-8II interceptor jet collided in mid-air. The deliberately reckless pilot of the Chinese jet fighter was killed, and the damaged EP-3 was forced to land without permission on China’s Hainan Island.
Prior to its emergency landing, the U.S. crew reportedly spent considerable time destroying the most sensitive equipment and materials onboard, but the crew was only partially successful.
Some of the material they failed to destroy included cryptographic keys, signals intelligence manuals, and the names of National Security Agency (NSA) employees.
The fact that the U.S. could track People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarines via signal transmissions was also revealed to China.
The 24 crew members were detained for ten days and interrogated by Chinese authorities.
While producing an international dispute between the U.S. and China, the incident was resolved with a joint ‘apology’ statement and the release of the crew by China.
While, in some ways that incident was more serious, the only aircraft destroyed then was the Chinese interceptor.
Meanwhile, Defense One reported:
The crash resulted in the “complete loss” of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a press release.
Before it struck the drone, the Su-27 and another flying with it dumped fuel onto the drone and flew in front of it. The EUCOM press release said these actions were unsafe, unprofessional, and “demonstrated a lack of competence.”
The EUCOM press release said the drone was flying in international airspace over the Black Sea. Russia maintains a large military presence in the Black Sea region via bases in the occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
The U.S. routinely flies intelligence missions in the region. On March 8, a RQ-4B Global Hawk drone was reported flying over the Black Sea between Crimea and Turkey.
Gen. Hecker added: “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
The biggest question here is – as the Ukraine war drags on, can we expect more aggressive Russian escalatory military actions like this?
The answer is – it is very likely.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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The Russians and the Chinese will continue to interfere with US aerial operation in international airspace as long as they feel they can get away with it.
Under the current administration, they are pretty damn certain they can get away with it.
Never did this since Cold War 1: 1945-1991
Excuse me, do we not have a right to witness what is going on in Ukraine? Or Russia for that matter. We need no lies. The drone was not weaponized. I don’t care what they say.
Putin better be careful, or Biden will be sending in his woke, transgender troops and teach those Ruskie’s a thing or two!!!
Load a couple of drones with highly sensitive explosives so when the Soviets, I mean Russkies, fly too close BOOM!!
Glad to see I’m not the only person with this thought. Set them up to spread shrapnel, when a proximity sensor sets them off. And keep a constant fleet flying.