American UAV RQ-4 Global Hawk
©United States Air Force/Wikimedia Commons
The United States has resumed reconnaissance drone flights over the Black Sea after the MQ-9 Reaper crash. On Saturday, March 18, reports Reuters, citing two US officials.
In the agency claimthat on Friday, March 17, the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone conducted surveillance over the Black Sea. Friday’s flight was the first since Tuesday, one source said. It is noted that the Pentagon has repeatedly stated that the case with the MQ-9 Reaper will not affect the further implementation of such missions by Washington.
As Profile.ru reported, the first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations (UN) said that the incident with an American drone that fell over the Black Sea was a deliberate provocation USA. He stressed that the drone violated the boundaries of the temporary air regime, which Washington was well aware of.
March 15 Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation discussed the case in the Black Sea with the head of the Pentagon. The conversation took place at the initiative of the American side. Later also there was a telephone conversation between the heads of the General Staffs of the Russian Federation and the United States.
As reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the means of control of the Aerospace Forces of Russia on the morning of March 14 recorded the flight of an American MQ-9 drone in the area of the Crimean peninsula. The flight took place with the transponders turned off and in violation of the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace. Russian fighter jets took to the skies. According to the Ministry of Defense, the American drone made a sharp maneuver and went into uncontrolled flight. As a result, he lost height and “collided with the water surface.” Russian fighters did not come into contact with the UAV, the military department stressed.
