The Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen Pat Ryder briefed reporters on Tuesday following the downing of an American Reaper surveillance drone over the Black Sea in international airspace by two Russian aircraft.
Ryder confirmed the collision with the MQ9, which led to US forces bringing the craft down in international waters. The Russian craft involved was operated in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner, Ryder said.
"As the US airforces in Europe and Airforces Africa commander emphasized... 'US-allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely,'" Ryder continued.
The state department is raising its concerns about the incident "directly with the Russian government," Ryder said. "In terms of the mission of the MQ9... These aircraft have been flying over the Black Sea region for some time, including before the current conflict started. It's an important and busy international waterway, and so it's not an uncommon mission for us to be flying in international water space." Ryder did not answer whether the aircraft was armed, noting that MQ9s do have the ability to be armed.
"We are continuing to assess exactly what happened but I think based on the actions of the Russian pilots, it's clear that it was unsafe and unprofessional. I think the actions speak for themselves. What we saw, again, were fighter aircraft dumping fuel in front of this UAV, and then getting so close to the aircraft that it actually damaged the propeller on the MQ9. We assess that it likely caused some damage to the Russian aircraft as well. We know that the Russian aircraft did land," Ryder said, though he would not reveal where the craft landed. He also said that he had no information on any recovery operations for the US aircraft.
The incident over the Black Sea on Tuesday saw a Russian fighter jet collide with a USAF MQ-9 reaper drone. The incident was revealed by the US European Command, and resulted in the complete loss of the MQ-9 unmanned drone.
US Air Force Gen. James Hecker wrote in a release prior to the press conference, noting that the drone was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was hit by the Russian aircraft.
"The Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9. Prior to the collision, the Su-27s were said to have dumped fuel on and flown in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless and unprofessional manner, Hecker confirmed. "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," he said.
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