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Moment Russian fighter crashes into US drone in international airspace over the Black Sea
This is the astonishing moment a Russian fighter jet crashes into a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
Drone camera footage shows the terrifying confrontation with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet as the plane approaches from behind, clips its propeller and dumps fuel over it in international airspace on 14 March 2023.
US forces had to bring down the $32million drone in international waters on Tuesday night after the encounter, sparking a race between Moscow and Washington to recover it.
The dramatic footage released by the Pentagon follows Russian claims its jet did not make contact with the drone, instead claiming the drone crashed on its own after 'sharp manoeuvring'.
Moscow also said it would work to retrieve the wreckage of the $32million drone in what would be a propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin, after earlier warning that it will 'consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile'.
This is the first direct confrontation between Russia and the US since the start of the war in Ukraine, occurring close to Crimea.
Video shows the Russian fighter approaching the American drone from behind and beginning to release fuel as it passes - the Pentagon said
Released footage shows the moment a Russian fighter dumped fuel on an American drone
The newly-declassified 42-second clip shared today shows the UAV come into contact with a Russian jet.
One of two Russian jets flying over international waters pulls up on the drone, approaching from behind.
The jet is shown to dump fuel as it passes. Fuel dumping is usually used by aircraft in emergency situations to lose weight.
The UAV's camera suffers damage before it is forced to make an emergency landing in international waters below.
White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby slammed Russia's actions as reckless and dangerous.
But the Russian Defence Ministry pushed back, saying in a statement, 'Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons and did not come into contact with the American drone.
'Due to sharp manoeuvring, the American drone went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface.'
Kirby asserted Tuesday that the State Department would address 'concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept' with their Russian counterparts.
He added that the collision would not 'deter or dissuade' US forces from flying or operating in international airspace.
Russia's Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, meanwhile accused the US of committing an 'act of provocation' after the $32 million US surveillance drone was intercepted.
Antonov warned Washington it must stop 'hostile' flights near his country's border - or face the consequences.
Moscow also said it would work to retrieve the wreckage of the $32million drone in what would be a propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin, after earlier warning that it will 'consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile'.
The US has maintained its position that Russia intentionally clashed with the drone, as appears to be shown in the newly-released video.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told reporters: 'We know that the intercept was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional.'
Even so, the incident has triggered fears that such a mistake or misunderstanding could spark an escalation in hostilities.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday in their first call since October.
'I just got off the phone with my Russian counterpart, Minister Shoigu,' Austin said at a Pentagon press briefing.
'As I've said repeatedly, it's important that great powers be models of transparency and communication, and the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows.'
Russia said it made clear in the call that it sees things differently and that US aerial operations in the region are a threat.
'It was noted that flights by American strategic lethal drones by the Crimea coastline were provocative in nature and created pre-conditions for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea zone,' the defense ministry statement said after Shoigu's telephone conversation with Austin.
The plane begins to dump fuel on the drone before the camera suffers damage
The drone's camera stabilises after the SU-27 passes overhead, clipping its propeller
Video shows damage to the UAV after the jet dumped fuel over it in the Black Sea
According to US officials the MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 jets that dumped fuel on top of the drone before clipping its propeller, forcing it to crash
The $32million US Reaper drone taken out of the sky by Russia
An American MQ-9 Reaper drone (left) and a Russian Su-27 fighter jet (right)
Russia has pledged to recover the drone after it crashed into the Black Sea, near Ukraine.
Kremlin Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev previously told the Rossiya-1 TV channel: 'I don't know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not, but that it has to be done. And we'll certainly work on it. I hope, of course, successfully.'
But US General Mark Milley played down the prospect of losing sensitive technology.
He said it had gone down in four or five thousand feet of water.
'We don't have any ships there. But we do have a lot of allies and friends in the area that will work through recovery operations,' he said.
'That's US property, and we'll leave it at that at this point.
'But it probably broke up. There's probably not a lot to recover, frankly,
'As far as the loss of anything sensitive ... intelligence etc ... as normal we would take — and we did take mitigating measures — so we are quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value.'
Flight data showed a US Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft operating along the Romanian coastline, which borders the Black Sea, possibly related to a recovery mission.
On Tuesday night public flight data showed a US Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was patrolling over the Romanian coastline, possibly related to a recovery operation
The Sukhoi Su-27 is a Soviet twin-engine fighter in operation since 1977.
It is used by the Russian Air Force, the People's Liberation Army Air Force of China, and others.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, often used for reconnaissance.
Sometimes called Predator B, the MQ-9 can also be attached with missiles to conduct precision airstrikes.
They cruise at 208 miles-per-hour and can reach a maximum altitude of 32,808ft.
The drones use rotating 'eyeball' cameras to capture a wide field of view.