2023 Black Sea drone incident
2023 Black Sea drone incident | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War | |||||||
A Su-27 approaching the drone on the footage released by the US | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Russia | United States | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 Su-27 fighter jets | 1 MQ-9 Reaper drone | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | One drone lost |
On the morning of 14 March 2023, a Russian
The
Background
On the early morning of 14 March 2023, an MQ-9 Reaper drone belonging to the United States Air Force departed from a base in Romania,[6] likely the Romanian Air Force 71st Air Base located in Câmpia Turzii.[7] The drone was scheduled to conduct a routine reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea when it was intercepted by two Russian fighter jets.[6]
This event occurred amidst heightened tensions between
According to the Swedish flight tracking service
Incident
Ryder said the drone was "well away" from Ukrainian territory, but he did not give an exact location. Ukraine has said that it crashed off Snake Island;[12] General Mark Milley stated that the drone crashed in an area of the Black Sea that was as deep as 1,500 meters (5,000 ft),[13][14] making recovery difficult and implying that the location was not anywhere near Snake Island.[15] After its propeller was damaged, the drone flew as a glider while descending over the Black Sea, crashing in international waters southwest of Crimea. While in flight, the drone's software was wiped to avoid capture.[16]
Ryder declined to speak about U.S. efforts to retrieve the aircraft but noted that Russia had not recovered it. A day later,
According to US officials, the order to harass the drone was given by the
Reactions
U.S.
According to
The
Russia
The Russian Defense Ministry said the US drone was flying with its transponders off[3] and that its fighter jets did not make contact with the drone, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to "harsh maneuvering". "The Russian fighters did not use their airborne weapons, did not make contact with the drone, and returned safely to their home airfield", the defense ministry said.[4]
Russian ambassador to the United States
On 17 March, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu presented the Russian fighter pilots involved in the incident with state awards.[24]
See also
- Hainan Island incident
- 2021 Black Sea incident
- Incident at Pristina airport
- Submarine incident off Kola Peninsula
- Submarine incident off Kildin Island
- Air-to-air combat losses between the Soviet Union and the United States
References
- ^ a b c Stewart, Phil; Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil; Ali, Idrees (14 March 2023). "US military drone crashes into Black Sea after Russian intercept". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- dw.com. 14 March 2023. Archivedfrom the original on 14 March 2023.
- ^ a b c Liebermann, Oren; Hansler, Jennifer; Britzky, Haley; Bertrand, Natasha (14 March 2023). "Russian fighter jet forces down US drone over Black Sea after intercept | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ a b Mohamed, Edna; Marsi, Federica. "Russian jet downs US drone over Black Sea". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Russia awards pilots from US drone crash". Agence France-Presse. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023 – via South China Morning Post.
- ^ a b Marica, Irina (15 March 2023). "US drone that crashed into Black Sea after encounter with Russian jet reportedly took off from Romania". romania-insider.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Smith, Amelia (15 March 2023). "Russian Su-27 Collides with US MQ-9 Reaper". Overt Defense. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ a b Samuels, Brett (14 March 2023). "Russian jet forces downing of US drone over Black Sea". The Hill. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Despite downed drone, U.S. says it will keep flying near Ukraine". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ @flightradar24 (17 March 2023). "The RQ-4B Global Hawk, flying with call sign #FORTE10 is back in the air. Heading in direction of the Black Sea. Just a reminder that the downed UAV was a MQ-9 Reaper that generally does not fly with an active ADS-B transponder" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Callahan, Michael (16 March 2023). "US releases map of approximate location of downed Reaper drone". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ Sabbagh, Dan (15 March 2023). "Russian downing of US drone 'unprofessional', says UK defence secretary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil; Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil (15 March 2023). "Difficult to recover downed drone in Black Sea- top U.S. general". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Kube, Courtney; Lee, Carol E. (16 March 2023). "Russian leadership approved actions of jets that damaged U.S. drone, officials say". NBC News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- researchgate.net. Archivedfrom the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ a b c Liebermann, Oren; Bertrand, Natasha; Sciutto, Jim (16 March 2023). "US military releases footage of Russian fighter jet forcing down American drone over Black Sea". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Saric, Ivana (15 March 2023). "Russian jet collides with U.S. drone over Black Sea". Axios. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ "Russia Races to Salvage U.S. Drone Wreckage in Black Sea". The Moscow Times. 15 March 2023. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- usnews.com. Archivedfrom the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Martinez, Luis; Seyler, Matt (16 March 2023). "Defense Secretary Austin speaks to Russian counterpart about US drone incident". ABC News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ Olson, Emily; Chappell, Bill (16 March 2023). "The U.S. military releases footage of Black Sea drone crash with Russian jet". NPR. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Kelly, Lidia; Adler, Leslie; Coates, Stephen (15 March 2023). "Moscow sees drone incident as provocation -Russia's ambassador to U.S." Reuters. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Turak, Natasha; Macias, Amanda (17 March 2023). "Ukraine war live updates: Turkey will start ratifying Finland's NATO application; Slovakia, Poland to send Ukraine MiG fighter jets in major shift". CNBC. Retrieved 17 March 2023.