Russian fighter jet forces down U.S. military drone over Black Sea, U.S. says
The U.S. military says a Russian fighter plane clipped the propeller of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, forcing it to crash in the Black Sea. Russia offered a very different account, claiming the American drone crashed on its own.
What's not in dispute is the inflammatory nature of the incident, which comes at a time when U.S.-Russia tensions are already running high over the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. military says two Russian Su-27 fighter jets carried out a "reckless" intercept of the American drone, which was carrying out a routine reconnaissance mission in international airspace over the Black Sea.
The Russian jets initially flew just in front of the much slower American drone several times and dumped fuel on the U.S. aircraft as well. After about 30 minutes of these harassing actions, one of the Russian jets clipped the propeller of the drone, causing it to crash, the U.S. military said.
"Intercepts of aircraft are not uncommon, just wanting to see what's there," said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Defense Department's spokesman. "In this particular case, [the Russian jet] collided with the [U.S.] aircraft, damaging the propeller and essentially putting it in a situation where it was unflyable, uncontrollable, so we brought it down."
Ryder said the drone was "well away" from Ukrainian territory, but he did not give an exact location. He declined to speak about U.S. efforts to retrieve the aircraft but noted that Russia had not recovered it.
Russia offers a different account
The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement with a starkly different take on the incident.
The ministry said Russian radar noticed a "lethal MQ-9" drone heading toward the Russian border on Tuesday morning.
Russia then launched Russian fighter jets "with the goal of identifying" the aircraft, which it claimed was flying with its transponders off. This would make it more difficult to identify, and Russia said it was in violation of notifications it had issued.
The drone lost control and struck the water "as a result of a sharp maneuver," according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Russian fighter jets did not fire any weapons and did not make direct contact with the drone. The Russian aircraft safely returned to their air base, the statement concluded.
U.S. objects strongly, summons Russian ambassador
President Biden was briefed on the collision Tuesday morning, according to John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council.
Kirby said it was not unusual for Russian warplanes to intercept U.S. aircraft over the Black Sea, noting there have been a number of such cases in recent weeks.
But Kirby said this one was noteworthy because of the "unsafe" and "reckless" way the Russian pilots carried it out.
In Washington, the State Department summoned Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov in order to voice U.S. objections. And in Moscow, U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy conveyed a "strong message" to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking to reporters outside the State Department, Antonov reiterated that the Russians didn't use any weapons against the drone. He said that the Russians had identified a zone for their "special military operation" and that the U.S. drone had no business being where it was.
"What will be the reaction of the United States if you see such Russian drone very close, for example, to San Francisco or New York? What will be the reaction of the United States? For me, it is clear," he said.
Throughout the past year of war in Ukraine, Biden has been very clear that his administration will support Ukraine, which it has done to the tune of tens of billions of dollars in military, economic and humanitarian aid.
But Biden has also stressed that the U.S. has no intention of becoming directly involved in a military confrontation with Russia.
The U.S. appears certain to continue providing weapons, intelligence and money to Ukraine, and the Pentagon emphasized that it would continue with reconnaissance flights in international airspace.
Greg Myre reported from Washington, and Charles Maynes from Russia; Michele Kelemen contributed reporting from the State Department.
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Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In the skies over the Black Sea, an extremely rare event took place today. An American drone crashed into the waters after a confrontation with Russian fighter jets. The U.S. military says this happened because the Russian jet harassed and then collided with the U.S. drone. The Russians are offering a very different take. For the latest, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Hi.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Greg, we learned about this midair collision this afternoon. Just walk us through what happened.
MYRE: Sure. Now, the U.S. military says two Russian fighter jets carried out a, quote, "reckless intercept of an American MQ-9 drone." The U.S. says the drone was on a routine reconnaissance mission in international waters over the Black Sea, which is off the southern coast of Ukraine. Now, the Russian jets initially flew just in front of the much-slower American drone. They did this several times, even dumped fuel on it. And so after about 30 minutes or so of this harassing behavior, one of the Russian jets actually hit the propeller of the drone. Here's the Pentagon spokesman, Brigadier General Pat Ryder.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PAT RYDER: Intercepts of aircraft are not uncommon in and of themselves just wanting to see what's there, right? In this particular case, they collided with the aircraft, damaging the propeller and essentially putting it in a situation where it was unflyable and uncontrollable. So we brought it down.
SUMMERS: OK, so that's the U.S. view. But the Russians - what are they saying?
MYRE: Yeah, very different version. Russia's defense ministry said its radar picked up what it called a lethal MQ-9 drone heading toward Russia's border. Russia scrambled some jets in order to further identify the aircraft, which they said was flying with its transponders off, making it hard to identify it. Now, the Russians claim the drone made a sharp maneuver on its own and crashed into the water. They also say the Russian jets did not make any contact with the drone or fire any weapons at it.
SUMMERS: I know it's early still, but at this point, are we seeing any sort of U.S. diplomatic response to this?
MYRE: Well, we know President Biden was briefed by his national security advisers this morning. John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, again stressed it's fairly common for Russian planes to intercept all these U.S. aircraft that are flying regularly in the Black Sea. But he said it was very unusual in the unsafe and reckless manner that this was carried out. Now, here in Washington, the U.S. State Department has summoned the Russian ambassador to voice U.S. objections. And in Moscow, the U.S. ambassador has voiced those similar U.S. objections with the Foreign Ministry.
SUMMERS: So, Greg, big picture here, do you think that this is likely to lead to increased tensions or perhaps even some sort of confrontation between the United States and Russia?
MYRE: Well, relations, it seems, could hardly get worse, so this probably will make them a little worse. Now, President Biden has been very, very clear on this. He says the U.S. will support Ukraine as it fights Russia, but he says the U.S. will not get directly involved in a military confrontation with Russia. So we should expect tough words to be exchanged. The U.S. will keep assisting Ukraine. The Pentagon says it will continue with these flights, which are almost a constant presence in the Black Sea and in neighboring countries but not over Ukrainian airspace. But given Biden's statements repeatedly, it seems like he'll seek to address this through diplomatic channels.
SUMMERS: NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF FLYING LOTUS' "FF4") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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