US drone flights over the Black Sea resume after Russian collision
The United States has resumed normal flights in international waters over the Black Sea after a drone crashed due to Russian interference.
US officials said on Friday an RQ-4 Global Hawk had flown over the area – the first US aircraft to do so since the skirmish, according to Reuters.
RUSSIA GIVES STATE AWARDS TO PILOTS BEHIND US DRONE CRASH
An RQ-4 Global Hawk takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (US Air Force Photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson)
Military officials assured the public that Russia’s harassment of the US drone on Tuesday would not affect regular operations in the region.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin summed up the incident Wednesday at a press conference, saying, “Two Russian jets dumped fuel on an unmanned US MQ-9 aircraft conducting routine operations in international airspace. And a Russian jet aircraft intercepted and hit our MQ-9 aircraft, resulting in a crash.”
Austin strongly criticized the Russian military for its actions, saying the Black Sea incident was “part of a pattern of aggressive, risky and dangerous actions by Russian pilots in international airspace.”
US VIDEO SHOWS MOMENT RUSSIAN FIGHTER PLANE COLLIDES US DRONE
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (R), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley attends a virtual Ukrainian Defense Contact Group meeting March 15, 2023 at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. DC (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia has denied that the planes hit each other and accused the United States of needlessly worsening of the problem.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to fighter pilots responsible for shoot down an American drone on the Black Sea earlier this week.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Day the homeland in Moscow, Russia, on February 23, 2023. (PAVEL BEDNYAKOV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
In an official statement, the Ministry of Defense praised the pilots for preventing the drone from “violating the limits of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation”.
The press release accuses the American drone of flying with its transponders turned off.
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