On the evening of March 14, information appeared about the fall of an American MQ-9 Reaper UAV into the Black Sea. The incident took place in the morning several dozen kilometres from the Crimean coast
Photo: © commons.wikimedia.org / POA(Phot) Tam McDonald
Air Force Europe and Africa Commander General James Hecker complained that the drone was on a peaceful (reconnaissance) flight in neutral (?) airspace, but then the evil Russians flew in, and:
“One of the Russian Su-27s caught the propeller of the MQ-9, resulting in US forces having to shoot down the MQ-9 in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dropped fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsafe and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.”
In short, as Karel Capek once wrote: “The enemy insidiously attacked our planes that were peacefully bombing his cities”.
The Russian military command replied that “as a result of sharp manoeuvring around 9:30 Moscow time, the MQ-9 drone went into uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the water surface. The Russian fighters did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with the drone and safely returned to their home airfield.
Independent telegram channels do report that the UAV lost control as a result of the fighter’s manoeuvres (the pilot is already known and received gifts from volunteers).
It is likely that the repeated tactic of Soviet pilots to dump fuel as it flew was used against it.
The search for the UAV is reportedly underway by the Black Sea Fleet and it is likely that we will soon learn the details of the incident.
The MQ-9 Reaper was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in 2001. It has been in service since 2007, and more than 300 of them have been produced. In addition to the US, at least the UK, Turkey, France and Italy have such UAVs.
The device has a wingspan of 20 meters and a maximum takeoff weight of less than five tons (unladen – 2223 kg). It is equipped with a turboprop engine that can reach speeds of over 400km/h. Its practical ceiling is 13,000 m.
The maximum flight time of the MQ-9 Reaper reaches 33 hours (version ER). At the same time the flight range (determined by the capabilities of communication and control equipment) is about 1.9 thousand km.
In the strike variant the UAV can carry on six knots of suspension missiles “air – air”, “air – ground” and guided aerial bombs.
The devices have been actively used in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Syria. Several vehicles have been shot down. In at least two cases, the Americans blamed the destruction of the UAVs on fighters from the Wagner group, who were armed with the Pantsir SAM system.
The incident itself is not particularly surprising. Rather, what is surprising is that it happened only now.
Even before the start of the SMO, American UAVs were actively flying over the Black Sea, and with the start of the special operation they openly carried out reconnaissance activities in the interests of the AFU. In particular, they were “probing” the peninsula’s air defences, providing strikes with drones and possibly missiles. There have also been cases of border violations by them.
The US authorities have, of course, summoned the Russian ambassador, but there are generally no formal grounds for a diplomatic scandal. The US does not accuse Russia of deliberate destruction of the vehicle (moreover, they confirm that they destroyed it themselves).
The Ukrainian media tried to link the incident to the statement of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki about the intention to transfer Polish MiG-29 (upgraded to use NATO munitions) to Ukraine and Washington’s confirmation that it did not object (it used to object).
This, they say, is the US response.
We shall note, however, that the question of aircraft deliveries to Kiev has been raised repeatedly, training of Ukrainian pilots to use American aircrafts is at least under way, the US European allies (Poland and Slovakia) supplied Ukraine not only with aircraft components but also, probably, with disassembled planes and helicopters (most probably for cannibalization purposes – there may be questions in case of such aircraft falling on the Russian territory).
All in all, there is no reason for the US to start rearming the Ukrainian air force – they are acting according to plan.
Vasyl Stoyakin, Ukraina.ru
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