Russian ships at US drone crash site in Black Sea, US official says: ‘They wasted no time’
A US defense official told Fox News that Russian ships have already arrived at the drone crash site in the Black Sea.
Almost immediately after the MQ-9 drone was shot down in the water by a Su-27 fighter jet, Russia sent ships to search the wreckage area.
“He wasted no time,” a defense official told Fox News.
US video shows the moment Russian fighter jet collided with US drone
The US European Command on Thursday released video of the March 14 collision of a Russian Su-27 fighter jet with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. A screenshot shows a jet dumping fuel. (US European Command)
However, a separate US official with knowledge of the situation is not confident that Russia will be able to obtain any debris of the drone.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Wednesday that the Black Sea area where the drone fell was 4,000 to 5,000 feet deep.
Russia will try to recover downed US drone as US pledges to ‘protect our equity’
The US European Command on Thursday released video of a collision between a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14. (US European Command)
He made the remarks during a Pentagon press briefing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Milley estimated that the wreckage of the drone has already sunk to a “significant depth”, making recovery a difficult prospect.
Russia will try to recover downed US drone as US pledges to ‘protect our equity’
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley attend a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Liaison Group on March 15, 2023 at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told CNN on Wednesday that US forces have already moved to “protect our equity” and they don’t want anyone else to “have a hand”. [the drone],
“Without getting into too many details, what I can say is that we have taken steps to protect our equity with respect to that particular drone, that particular aircraft and its United States assets,” Kirby said. “We obviously don’t want to see anyone get out of their hands.”
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Later, Kirby took a markedly less optimistic tone.
“It hasn’t been recovered, and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to recover it. I mean, where it fell into the Black Sea, very deep water,” Kirby told CNN. “So we’re still assessing whether there can be any sort of recovery attempt there. It might not.”
A spokesman for the US European Command told Fox News on Wednesday that the US Navy does not have any ships operating in the Black Sea.
