Russian fighter jet hits U.S. drone, video footage revealed
The U.S. European Command speaks of the "unsafe/unprofessional intercept" of the drone in international airspace over the Black Sea.
(Video / European U.S Command)
The U.S. European Command on Thursday released declassified video footage taken by the MQ-9 Reaper drone showing the moment a Russian Su-27 fighter collides with it after attempting to spray it with jet fuel.
U.S. European Command released declassified footage of a Russian Su-27 aircraft conducting an unsafe/unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 in international airspace over the Black Sea, March 14. In addition to the footage, a storyboard of the events with declassified stills from the MQ-9 footage is also released.
The video was taken from a camera inside the drone and shows up to two different passes made by the Russian aircraft to spray it with fuel. On the second pass, the Russian fighter collides with the propeller at the rear of the drone.
After the impact, which occurred two days ago, the image and communication with the drone was lost.
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