Four days after the Russian jet fighter Su-27 deliberately shot down the US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, the Americans have flown the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk drone.
Its route could be followed today on “Flightradar24“. At one point, almost 25,000 Internet users followed the drone’s flight.
This time, the unmanned aerial vehicle intended for US intelligence flew even closer to the Russian border (near Krasnodar), made several circles there and returned to NATO airspace through Romania.
The price of such an aircraft is about 99 million US dollars, which makes it three times more expensive than the recently shot down drone by Russia.
This was the route of the previous drone shot down by Russian fighters until it lost control:
Previously, Pentagon officials revealed that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets participated in the dangerous maneuver with the MG-9 Reaper.
One of them spilled fuel on a US drone while flying in front of it.
On the other hand, the second Su-27 cut off the propeller of the 32 million worth drone (it is located at the back of the aircraft), which prevented its remote control team from maintaining control over the unmanned aerial vehicle.
It is not clear how exactly the drone’s propeller was damaged.
“This incident shows a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” said Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at a press briefing.
In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry denied a collision with the US drone, saying the American plane began an “uncontrolled flight” due to “sharp manoeuvring”.
The State Department has reportedly summoned Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, to protest after a Russian fighter jet collided with and destroyed an American Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
The incident took place in international airspace, but relatively close to Ukraine
