The US Air Force released a video of the incident, which happened to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14.

What was shown

The video confirms previously published information that the Su-27 unsafely flew over the drone several times and dumped fuel on it. During the last attempt, the pilot of the Russian fighter hit the propeller of the drone. Because of this, the US military had to shoot down the MQ-9 Reaper, and then remotely destroy the secret technologies and data that the UAV stored. By the way, after the incident, the US summoned the Russian ambassador to the State Department.

Official footage released by the U.S. Air Force of the collision between a Russian Su-27 and US MQ-9 over the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/kZaYUyXzVm

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 16, 2023

For those who are not in the know

The MQ-9 Reaper is a reconnaissance and strike UAV developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the US Air Force, US Navy and British Air Force. It is based on the MQ-1 Predator. The first flight of the drone took place on February 2, 2001. The UAV is equipped with a turboprop engine, thanks to which the MQ-9 Reaper reaches speeds of over 400 kilometers per hour. The UAV can fly at an altitude of up to 13 km and at a distance of up to 1900 km. The drone can stay in the air for up to 24 hours. The MQ-9 Reaper is equipped with AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, as well as Mark 82 bombs. By the way, the cost of one such UAV is $10-30 million (the price depends on the version).

Source: dvidshub