U.S. Downs Drone Over Black Sea After Russian Jet Collided With It
“…two Russian Su-27s ‘dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.'”
A Russian Su-27 jet collided with a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, causing the military to down it. It’s the first direct contact since Russia began its enhanced invasion of Ukraine:
Before the collision, which occurred around 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, two Russian Su-27s “dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” said the U.S. European Command [EUCOM] in a statement. “This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” said the EUCOM, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the region.
After the collision, the U.S. brought down its drone. The drone was conducting “routine operations” over international airspace in the Black Sea, EUCOM said.
The jet landed in Crimea. No word yet if the collision damaged the jet.
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More than likely not a mere accident. For those not familiar with US-Russian relations in and around the Black Sea check out the youtube videos:
USS Caron getting rammed by the Russians in the Black Sea – Feb 1988
1988 Soviet ramming USS Yorktown CG 48 in Black Sea
Once again the Patty Panic brigade are warning us that the totally reasonable and mild mannered President of Russia will “nook” something or someone or someplace because they looked into his eyes and saw a kind, warmhearted, generous, pacific, man.
Can the reapers carry anti air missiles for self defense? They could use these weapons when our enemies do something similar in the future.
The whole point of pilotless drones is if one gets shot down no one gets killed. Seriously – it’s a pilotless Drone. Purpose fulfilled! No one losses face in this.
And yet, would that Brandon had the testosterone to show as much outrage over the destruction of a $56M aircraft as Pooh Bear showed over a $3.99 balloon.
Other than being churlish and petty, what’s that got to do with living human beings not getting killed when pilotless drones are lost/shot down?
Could a collision ‘trigger’ a missile launch?
Baloney that “no one loses face”. It’s a deliberate act of war.
It wouldn’t be very hard to put a destructive device aboard all of these drones to not only blow it up but anything near it. In this case, the jet that downed it would now also be at the bottom of the Black Sea. Our military has been free from creative thinking for a long time and it really shows in this instance. But I’ll bet the emergency instructions on the side of the drone had correct pronouns in them.
How do you jettison fuel in an environmentally sound manner?
At a high enough altitude it vaporizes and never reaches ground.
Ah, that makes sense.
You have to do it underwater. For example, blow up a pipeline.
“environmentally unsound”?
Our current military commanders are so woke it’s pathetic.
Standard fuel dumping procedures have you at a decently high altitude so the fuel doesn’t reach ground. (I would think the drone was at a high enough altitude for that to not be an issue.) And that has been the case for ~35 years or more.
Agreed. How “environmentally sound” is putting a torch to burn pits filled with toxic chemicals from a train wreck? Sense of proportion, anyone?
Okay, a couple of questions:
1 – Did our drone crash? I can’t quite tell from the text.
2 – Dumping fuel on it, is that the equivalent of peeing on it?
I think they were hoping it would self-ignite. Or it was preparatory to torching it themselves but they didn’t, for some other reason (probably NOT an “environmental” one.)
So, they flew in front of it and dumped some fuel on it?
I am unclear on what actually happened here. Why did we down it so that it fell into Crimea? Won’t it be salvaged and Russia learn something from it?
Assuming the reports are vaguely correct…
Apparently the Russian fighter played footsie with the drone. Probably in order to bring it down and/or capture it. They tried dumping fuel on it first, then physically hit the drone’s propeller and wrecking it.
As it was unable to continue to fly at that point the US crashed it into the Black Sea to destroy it.
the US crashed it into the Black Sea to destroy it.
Except they landed it in Russian-held Crimea, instead.
Ah, one point here…
It might be that the crash broke the drone’s radios. If so, (and we haven’t reprogrammed the things) the drone would have attempted to safely land. It’s why Iran ended up with that other drone – it lost contact and so attempted to land safely… and just happened to do so where we couldn’t get to it (without invading another country).
I think that’s a stupid bit of programming.
The Russian fighter jet landed in Crimea.
The US drone crashed into the Black Sea.
Ah, ok. That makes a difference. (But isn’t quite the way it was written.)
Dumping fuel on it is an attempt to flame out the engine (by putting a liquid/vapor through the intake instead of oxygenated air).
Shades of Clinton for sale, Bush in China, Obama in Pakistan, Biden in Afghanistan, NOW Ukraine.
The report is written in a way to make our current military brass appear as if it were intentional to down it. They have zero control and zero “big stick” credibility right now. The only thing deterring Russia is economic considerations.
“This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,”
NO. It is a deliberate act of war. Assuming the drone was following the ICAO rules in international airspace, it should be protected from interference. (Being a drone does not lessen its protection.)
If I were the President I would demand satisfaction with immediate return of the drone (“We have planes on the way with crews to repair it and fly it out. Don’t touch it at all.”) and handing over the pilots for prosecution. And compensation (in dollars) for the repairs.
But no one will do that. I’m betting the third term of 0bama will also not send in a team to blow it up or anything.
Biden will demand the Russia pay him a multimillion bribe for his forbearance.
Just droning away in the area of Russian military assets with the US actively giving intel and targeting to the Ukrainians. “Act of War”…. hum… as grave as destroying pipelines? Russia just gave the US notice that it frowns on drones following their military operations in international waters. Not much the US can do but protest.
You still believe that story about us blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines? After all the very intelligent debunking of it? Oy vey.
And flying intelligence aircraft in international waters is not an act of war. Never has been.
Whereas downing an aircraft intentionally ALWAYS has been.
Do you remember when we rigged software to blow up the Siberian pipeline during the Cold War? Biggest non-mike explosion at the time.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1455559/CIA-plot-led-to-huge-blast-in-Siberian-gas-pipeline.html
Thank god thank god and thank god again that you are nowhere near any power or authority at all.
If you were in charge WW3 would likely begin in a matter of hours.
A pilot defending his mission’s operational integrity against a drone of a hostile nation following his plane is not a criminal you moron.
If Iranian military assets do the same to our own air missions I suppose you would say “yes let the American plane get shot down and if the American pilot defends his mission he is a war criminal”?
Of course not because you have brain cells.
We have a right to be on the Ukrainian side.
Russian pilots being targeted for destruction by American drones taking part in the conflict have a right to defend themselves.
This idea that we are gods really has to die yesterday.
Frankly it is an non-American point of view. Our traditional role in the world as a mercantile and production super power not a military bully. Traditionally we not only have seen our opponents as honorable people who are not to be treated as criminals we have historically coddled prisoners of war.
Yes we have a right to make our drones take part in the Ukraine War.
A Russian pilot seeing an American drone sending information on his plane and mission to the Ukrainians in real time (something we openly brag about doing) has a right to self-defense however.
When we engage in war we make our assets targets.
Don’t for a second think our pilots wouldn’t shoot down Iranian drones endangering their lives.
You’re an idiot.
Especially with this:
A Russian pilot seeing an American drone sending information on his plane and mission to the Ukrainians in real time (something we openly brag about doing) has a right to self-defense however.
There’s no self-defense involved. There’s no aggressive act being committed by the drone. We are not legally engaged in war with Russia.
1. Yes following Russian planes and sending real time intel to the Ukrainians (something we are extremely open about) is an aggressive act.
2. Who the hell cares? We are not gods. We are bound by the same rules as everyone else, pretending otherwise has made this century one catastrophe after another for us on the international stage. We use our drones to participate in the Russo-Ukrainian War. The result is when those drones are intervening they become fair game.
If an Iranian drone was shot down by an American pilot in exactly the same circumstances we would both be defending that pilot.
Stop trying to cheer for the third world war starting it is an atrocious position at best.
If you want somewhere to take out your aggression go play a video game and leave political conversations for people mature enough not to (as you are) advocate for starting the third world war.
And you reiterate your idiocy.
You’re wrong on every count.
“Yes following Russian planes and sending real time intel to the Ukrainians (something we are extremely open about) is an aggressive act.”
Not arguing your overall point as I tend to agree with it but this one needs putting in perspective.
The Russians will recognize the tactic because it’s the same one they used in the Vietnam War when they used ‘fishing trawlers’ to shadow our aircraft carriers around the South China Sea giving advance warning to Hanoi of the timing and composition of our air strikes. Even to the point of physically interfering with our air operations by forcing the carriers to maneuver to avoid colliding with them, all in violation of the international right of way rules.
Somehow over the 8 years of that carrier war we resisted the temptation to sink or even harass them despite those aggressive acts.
The efforts of the Russian planes were successful and the drone crashed into the sea.
So Russia cannot return the drone as it is under the water.
The Russian plane landed safely in the Russian occupied Crimea.
Gawsh those enemy combatants are just soo unprofessional. I think they need a lecture on manners.
So, an American unmanned combat aerial vehicle (spy drone), which also caries ground attack and air-to-air ordnance, was flying in a combat zone, providing intelligence and targeting information, as well as possible air support, to Ukrainian forces. EUCOM claims it was in international air space and we can all decide for ourselves how much of that to believe.
And we’re supposed to be…what, outraged when it gets chased out of the airspace?
It was in international waters where everyone is allowed to fly or sail. So Russia had no right to bring it down.
Russia’s action is an act of war and Quisling Biden should respond forcefully. Sending our forces to fight in Ukraine is the appropriate response. However, as Biden is on Russia’s payroll we can be sure that this won’t happen.
It’s a pilotless drone. No one got killed. We don’t have to stand on Honor and Duty because Joe the Pilot from Wichita is dead. Which was the point of pilotless drones in the first place.
So, never defend ourselves? At least as long as those US interests are not manned?
I’ve been called an isolationist for my non-involvement stance, but when your country is actually attacked you should make a point of doing something about it. Or it WILL end up costing someone’s life.
You are advocating direct US confrontation with a nuclear armed power b/c the Russians disabled a drone. A drone that was almost certainly providing intel to Ukraine to help them kill Russians.
As an alternative how about you travel to Ukraine send us photos from the front lines in and do a six month daily vlog convincing folks to join you.
Our sons and daughters have zero business being in this fight.
Rhetoric like that is rule one on page one of the book on how to start WW3 and end humanity forever knock it off.
If you are tempted by the spirit of hur hur hur nationalism knock it off.
We have enough problems without WW3 starting.
No! It was appeasement, like what Quisling Biden has done, that caused WW2 and enabled Hitler to almost win.
Russia and China have fought against us in Korea and Vietnam so why shouldn’t we do the same in Ukraine?
Quisling Biden is on Russia and China’s payrolls for millions a year. He paid back Putin by promising him that he didn’t to worry about fighting US and NATO forces in Ukraine. It would have greatly helped Ukraine in the war if Putin had to fear the possibility of NATO intervention and by holding maneuvers on the border we could have forced Russia to divert a significant portion of their military to defend against us.
If Eisenhower or Raegan or Nixon or ford had seen your rhetoric and you had been working for them you would have been immediately fired.
I have never seen as reckless and stupid a take as I have here.
So, you admit you’re not reading what you’re writing?
You’re advocating appeasement. I hear the ghost of Chamberlain in your comments.
(I am not advocating what Conrad is – sending troops to Ukraine – but I am advocating a strong, big stick, approach to this, and you’re crying into your pillow about how we’re all gonna die.)
List the total number Japanese pilots indicted for war crimes for engaging the Flying Tigers you idiot.
Come on your adopting the idea that our drones taking part in the conflict could follow Russian aircraft and that them being shot down requires the third world war so it should be easy come up with one American who cited dead Flying Tigers as a casus belli.
I bet you can’t because in the FDR time period our current hyper militarized society did not exist yet.
Just as an American pilot would under exactly the same circumstances defend himself and his mission a Russian pilot did the same thing.
There is fantastic reason the actual administration is not going for “HUR HUR HUR NATIONALISM HUR HUR HUR NUCLEAR WAR WE GO!!!!!!!!!” and I am embarrassed to see your takes on this.
List the total number Japanese pilots indicted for war crimes for engaging the Flying Tigers you idiot.
WTAF? What does that have to do with any of this? They were privateers, and they were regularly shot down. The situation is in no way comparable to this one.
follow Russian aircraft
Where do come up with this? Where is it insinuated it was following Russian aircraft?
Also, that is not a crime in any way. It’s not an act of war – since they were in international airspace.
requires the third world war
Not requiring that at all. Except that you seem to think that standing up will by definition bring down heaven and earth. Which is ignorant and cowardice.
our current hyper militarized society did not exist yet
Huh? That’s stupid.
Just as an American pilot would under exactly the same circumstances defend himself and his mission a Russian pilot did the same thing.
Um, no. We’ve expressly NOT done “that very thing”. As a matter of fact we’ve refrained when the actions actually WERE an act of war.
I am embarrassed to see your takes on this.
Since you’re not embarrassed by your own ludicrous take on this, I’ll not be bothered by that in the slightest.
Tell me, are you also one of the folks advocating we shouldn’t have mean tweets because we shouldn’t ever say bad things about others?
It was NOT in a combat zone.
And I haven’t seen any reports saying it was armed. (Not all of our reconnaissance drones are armed, and it’s likely this one was not, being in international airspace.)
We are so screwed . . .
In Ukraine, Vlad has been destroying every piece of important infrastructure he can including power stations, hospitals and schools, killing and maiming countless civilians and soldiers, burning all kinds of military equipment with toxic smoke being released in unfathomable amounts . . .
. . . and some genius in the military focusses on Russia’s “environmentally unsound” act of dumping fuel from a forking SU-27 on a drone, as if it Vlad’s military debauchery in Ukraine were an environmental nothing-burger.
This is our deranged military, virtue-signaling wokeness in the most clueless manner possible.
Somewhere, Putin and Xi are pinching themselves to prove they are not dreaming . . .
We are SO screwed . . .
The brass hats want to have their cake and eat it. ‘We are flying a very peaceful drone and the mean old Russians broke our toy’. In reality this drone was gathering Intel to feed the Ukrainians to help them kill Russians. Of course the Russians took action and until I see lat/long data v claims I suspect the drone was much closer to Russian claimed airspace if not in it than the brass hats tell us. This cutesy proxy war crap is eventually gonna go south.
I agree that the brass in the Pentagon is not to be easily trusted.
But, this is the kind of stuff that our military does “in their sleep.” The plans are meticulous and very hard boundaries are drawn, in order to prevent any incidents from occurring. Plans are vetted 8 ways to Sunday. There would be several levels of “I don’t think this is a good idea” if the airspace were set up to intrude on Russian airspace, and pilots would be loathe to go outside it for fear of getting into some civilian’s way and having the wrath of the Puzzle Palace come down on him.
It’s possible it was set up to deliberately provoke an incident. But there’s going to be a lot of folks involved in that, and it will come out fairly fast I think, as people decide not to get thrown under the bus.
I will also say, however: Tonkin Gulf.
This is a much more realistic post.
The US has no direct national security interest in this. It makes zero difference to our security which Eastern European power controls the area East of the Dnieper.
Despite the NeoCon desire to engage in endless warfare we shouldn’t allow them and the military industrial complex to further enrich themselves with yet more money and prestige.
Here is a basic test for all those who want US involvement in Ukraine;
1. are you willing to go and fight for Ukraine as part of their volunteer forces
2. Are you in the US military and thus subject to being sent there
3. Are your children in the US military and themselves at risk of being sent to Ukraine
If not then what you are advocating is that other people’s children should go to Ukraine and do the fighting and dying that you refuse for yourself and your own children.
Harsh but true. A final point is what makes this particular conflict special? Why intervene here and refuse to intervene elsewhere.
Do you believe aggression by Russia is dangerous to the US Ok fine. Wouldn’t aggression by China be just as dangerous? Will you be willing to to call for the same level of support for India when the Chinese make yet another incursion? How about Hong Kong and the refusal of China to abide by the terms of the handover? Lots of conflicts in Africa. Do we police them all?
As someone who wore the uniform for 26+ years I urge you not to be so cavalier in sending our Nation’s sons and daughters into conflicts which lack a direct national security interest for the US.
The US has no direct national security interest in this.
But here you diverge from the issue at hand. My claim is not about being involved in the Ukraine, but about what Russia did to an US aircraft in international airspace being an act of war. Unless there are kinetic engagements or something like active jamming going on from that platform in international airspace, it is NOT involved in acts of war. And the Russians intentionally attacked it. That makes them the bad guys here. And we need to handle it aggressively or it will happen again. (BTW, you know the reason the Russians knew they could get away with this? The drone that landed in Iran and the P-3 knocked down by China. And we did nothing in both cases.)
And I’m particularly offended by the chickenhawk charge. I did my time, including active participation in more than one place on this globe, and time in designated war zones post-active duty. And I’m NOT advocating for our direct involvement in the Ukraine. Direct engagement with Russia over an act of war is something else, however.
Choosing to focus on the incident itself without the context is a false narrative. Why was that drone there? What was it doing? This didn’t occur over the Bering Sea where the US should have assets.
The answer is it was there b/c neocon and interventionist brass hats and policy makers decided to materially assist one belligerent by, in this instance, gathering and feeding Intel to them. The DoD admitted this. It is, IMO, reckless, designed to PO Russia and provoke them. Seems like the Russians agree.
There is no chicken hawk shoe for you to wear unless the specific terms I listed fit you today. This proxy war BS is going to eventually draw in US Forces to conflict we have zero national security interests in.
The US can’t be the worlds police force. It is time to reserve our military for things that directly impact US National security. The governance of the area East of the Dnieper isn’t one of those things. We are nowhere near the global hegemonic military power we were as recently as 1990.
Putting US military assets into or one the edge of the conflict seems like an easy way to create another gulf of Tonkin incident as you very correctly pointed out. Lets go back to the era of ‘speak softly, but carry a big stick’ and stop pretending we have the strength to dominate every other Nation.
“My claim is not about being involved in the Ukraine, but about what Russia did to an US aircraft in international airspace being an act of war.”
To put this in context, there have been numerous manned US aircraft shot down by Russia, China and North Korea during the Cold War. None have led to war being declared.
1969 EC-121 shootdown
Such incidents are much more common than generally known.
“This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” said the EUCOM, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the region.
Why does that make me laugh?
I wonder if this is a false flag. Did they just loose it to there incompetence? I need to see pictures and a dead body to prove it happened.
What dead body? It’s a drone.
I have been wondering what Putin has received for the millions in bribes he has paid Joe Biden. Thinking back to the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine I remember how everyone expected Russia to easily defat and occupy Ukraine. The only risk that Russia faced was having to fight NATO. Well the first thing that Biden did was to tell Putin that he didn’t have to worry about US and NATO forces fighting in Ukraine. With this statement Biden earned the millions in bribes he received from Putin.
It would have greatly helped Ukraine if the Russians had to worry about NATO forces and by holding large scale maneuvers on the border with Russia we would have forced Russia to divert a significant portion of their military from the war in Ukraine. But Biden had to pay back Putin for the millions in bribe he received.
You know that Biden has gotten lots of money from Ukraine, right?
EUCOM seems more worried that the action was “environmentally unsound” than Russia attacking one of our drones which sounds about right for this feckless Administration and military more worried about political correctness than it’s defensive and offensive capabilities
Remember when Israel shot up our Intel ship killing Americans? In international waters?
Yes. And that was also an act of war.
And it was dealt with – differently. But it also wasn’t just let go because “well, we don’t want to start WW3.”
So was the Scorpion. By the way… do we have troops in Ukraine advising their military? Oh… we don’t???? The drone was a low cost reminder of things to come if things continue to escalate. Considering the billions of buck flowing into Ukraine and numerous bank accounts… a $30 million loss of the drone is a nuisance.
In a Swedish museum is the remains of a DC-3 shot down by the Stalin led Soviets over international waters. US recon planes were shot down near Red China in the 1950’s. Part of doing business…. nasty out there.
“Unprofessional” — meaning “Not Ok.”, and “Knock it off.” without declaring an act or war or intentional attack.
That’s way more nuanced messaging than we’ve been getting from our hacks, or theirs. Somebody’s on the ball with this.
Why would they land this damaged drone in Crimea?
Now Russia has it and will reverse engineer it.
Better to have crashed it into the sea.