The European Command of the US Armed Forces released footage of last Tuesday’s encounter between a US surveillance drone and a Russian fighter jet while flying over the Black Sea.
The video, which was classified until then, shows critical moments of the air encounter, which the Pentagon said lasted 30 to 40 minutes.
The video shows the MQ-9 Reaper drone’s camera pointed backwards towards its tail and the drone’s rear-mounted propeller spinning.
Then a Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter is shown approaching. As it approaches, the Russian fighter dumps fuel as it intercepts the American drone.
In another part of the footage, the Russian jet makes another pass. As it approaches, it again pours fuel.
The drone video is cut short when the Russian fighter jet collides with the MQ-9 Reaper, damaging the propeller and forcing the US to shoot the drone down in the Black Sea. Russia has denied that a collision took place.
When the camera goes back to recording, the view is again pointed backwards and the propeller is shown damaged by the collision.
With the propeller damaged, the drone operators effectively flew the aircraft like a glider as it descended over the Black Sea, bringing it down in international waters southwest of Crimea.
During the descent, two US officials told CNN that operators remotely wiped the drone’s sensitive software, mitigating the risk of classified materials falling into enemy hands before falling into the water.
On Wednesday, National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby told the CNN that the drone had not been recovered and that he was “not sure” that the US would be able to recover it.
Moscow made clear it would try to recover the drone’s wreckage, and two officials told the CNN on Wednesday that Russia had arrived at the crash site of the MQ-9 in the Black Sea.
Kirby would not confirm the reported development, but said the US “has made it impossible for them to be able to collect anything of intelligence value from the remains of that drone, whatever remains may exist on the surface of the water.”
The Kremlin said the decision on whether or not to retrieve the downed US Reaper drone from the Black Sea would come from the Russian Defense Ministry.
“This is the prerogative of the military. If they believe it is necessary for our interests and our security in the Black Sea, they will do it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.
Peskov said he did not know what the ministry decided to do.
Source: CNN Brasil
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