A US Reaper drone crashed over the Black Sea in an “incident” with a Russian jet

A major incident involving a US military drone in the Black Sea on Tuesday is being widely reported, with NATO sources telling AFP that there an “incident” and that an investigation is ongoing. Western military sources identified it a US-made Reaper drone may have crashed for reasons still unknown:

“Something happened, though we have no confirmation that the drone was shot down. An investigation is underway,” one of two Western sources who confirmed “an incident” told AFP.

MQ-9 drone, military archive image

“The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, did not say which country operated the drone, which is widely used by the United States and many of its NATO allies,” the report continued of the AFP.

As more details emerged in the minutes after the initial reports, a Politico war correspondent quotes US European Command officials as saying the American drone has been shot down over the Black Sea.

“A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea this morning, causing the drone to crashsays US European Command,” writes politician Paul McLeary.

NEW: A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea this morning, causing the drone to crash, according to US European Command.

— Paul McLeary (@paulmcleary) March 14, 2023

Naturally, the next question is what happened to the Russian jet…did it also crash? If so, the incident poses a major danger to a possible imminent escalation between the US and Russia, given that this is the kind of rare and direct military encounter that many have long feared could trigger a deadly spiral of ‘climbing.

The White House was briefed on the incident, according to NSC spokesman John Kirby:

BIDEN INTRODUCED THE RUSSIA JET INCIDENT THIS MORNING: KIRBY

However, some experts and journalists are already applying a narrative of events that contradicts the Pentagon’s. Is the Pentagon leadership hoping to avoid World War II by downplaying it as a simple accident (on stage, it was actually a slaughter incident)? The Kremlin’s version of events will be interesting to hear as the fallout unfolds.

The two Russian Su-27s returned to their base in #Crimea after destroying a $32 million drone, for the latest versions of the MQ-9, the US drone.

— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) March 14, 2023

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