Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
It is worth nothing that Rozhin likely is getting his information straight from the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense.
| Responding to this story from yesterday. |
The official statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the situation with the fallen American drone:
1. On the morning of March 14 this year. over the waters of the Black Sea in the area of the Crimean peninsula, the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the flight of an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle in the direction of the State Border of the Russian Federation;
2. The flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle was carried out with transponders turned off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace, established for the purpose of conducting a special military operation, communicated to all users of international airspace and published in accordance with international standards;
3. In order to identify the intruder, fighters from the air defense forces on duty were sortied. As a result of sharp maneuvering around 9.30 (Moscow time), the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface;
4. Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons, did not come into contact with an unmanned aerial vehicle and returned safely to their base airfield.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/80450 - zinc
* * *
According to the situation at 21:00.
About the incident over the Black Sea at 9 pm.
1. The United States intends through the State Department to discuss the incident with the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Black Sea, which led to the loss of the reconnaissance and strike UAV MQ-9 Reaper. It can also be assumed that there will be closed contacts along the line of "deconflicting" through the defense departments. The United States also announced that it would continue flying over the Black Sea.
2. The United States also expressed concern about the incident, a little earlier, in an official statement by the European command of the US Army, accusing the pilots of the Russian aircraft of unprofessionalism and violating the ecology of the Black Sea.
3. Formally, the United States cannot accuse Russia of destroying the UAV, since they themselves admit that they had to finish it off on their own. Therefore, they will rest on the fact that the discharge of kerosene and damage to the propeller had fatal consequences.
4. Depending on the configuration, the lost vehicle could cost from 23 to 30 million dollars. It is worth noting that this is not the first loss of the MQ-9 Reaper with a "Russian flight path."
During the fighting in Libya in 2019-2020, two American and one Italian MQ-9 drone were shot down. In at least two episodes, the Wagner PMC, which was armed with the Pantsir air defense missile system, was accused of this. The official version was the actions of Haftar's LNA, which was also armed with the Pantsir air defense missile system in export configuration.
5. The Russian fighter jets involved in the incident over the Black Sea returned safely to the airfield in Crimea. One of them will draw a star for himself.
6. In the "tactical use of aviation kerosene" area, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet are searching for and raising the wreckage of the fallen American reconnaissance and strike drone MQ-9 Reaper.
Published and records of negotiations in the area of the fall of the drone https://t.me/milinfolive/97987 (second record) indicating the ongoing search. Perhaps something interesting will be found.
Judging by the negotiations, something has already been fished out. At one time, the Iranians filled up the RQ-4 Global Hawk and were able to catch something useful in the sea for their drone program. The US has denied that Russia has recovered the drone fragments, but the talks from the crash site are telling enough.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/80451 - zinc
Previously from Rozhin:
Russian fighter jet shot down US MQ-9 Reaper drone
[ColonelCassad] U.S. European Command statement regarding the Black Sea Incident: "Two Russian Su-27 aircraft made an unsafe and unprofessional interception of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 unmanned aircraft on a reconnaissance mission that was in international airspace over the Black Sea today."
03:03 AM (CET) One of the Russian Su-27 aircraft grazed the propeller of an MQ-9, causing US forces to scuttle the MQ-9 in international waters Several times before the collision, the Su-27 jettisoned fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 reckless, in an environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.
"Our MQ-9 aircraft was performing normal operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and shot down by a Russian aircraft, resulting in the crash and total loss of the MQ-9,” said the US Air Force general. James B. Hecker, Commander, US Air Force Europe and Air Force Africa.
The State Department intends to hold consultations with the Russian Foreign Ministry on this incident.
Since the United States accused a Russian fighter pilot of pouring aviation kerosene onto an American drone in the air, it is certainly difficult not to recall the story of Vasily Tsymbal."
An anecdote from the Cold War days:
Following Commentary by Timofey Berdikin:
Rain of stinking kerosene...
Vasya Tsymbal was a graduate of the Armavir Aviation School and, like all the guys from there, he was famous for his ability to clearly fulfill the assigned combat missions, though ... Not quite standard and, I would even say, very extraordinary approaches. His favorite trick was tricks with fuel.
Another such trick just happened in the Far East, when one of the Japanese guards (moreover, carrying a couple of helicopters - a kind of unofficial aircraft carrier) crossed the border between neutral waters and the territory of the USSR.
Unfortunately for the Japanese, Vasya Tsymbal was in the sky, and he quickly figured out what to do. Having made a couple of turns at an ultra-low altitude above the ship, he was convinced that he was not going to change course, and decided to try to scare the uninvited guests properly. Rising higher, he turned around and began to dive at the Japanese. They were seriously frightened - the provocation had gone too far, and no one knew whether the order had been given to the Soviet pilot to attack.
As a result, Tsymbal at cruising speed swept 5-6 meters above the deck and literally blew one of the helicopters into the water with a stream of air, after which, apparently, on a wave of excitement, he said shortly but succinctly: “Fucked up a kitten!”
The Japanese, having heard one of the most expressive expressions of Mother Russia, turned the ship 180 degrees and set off at full speed. But this was not enough for the show-off Vasya. While the Japanese ship was in the waters of the Soviet Union, Vasya decided to work out his favorite trick. Flying over the cuckoo's nest as unfortunate provocateurs, Tsymbal turned on the fuel drain and doused the military of the Land of the Rising Sun with kerosene rain. The descendants of the samurai could not stand such a shame and in droves ran to do hara-kiri to complain to higher authorities.
Almost immediately after Vasya returns to the base, he is called to the carpet (they also heard everything at the base) and, having learned the details, they sigh with relief - thank God, he didn’t kill anyone - and send him to the other end of the country so that, in which case, according to the good old tradition to declare that "the pilot is not ours", and indeed "two weeks since he left for Murmansk."
Once in the north, Vasily Tsymbal did not change his habits. In September 87, however, as always, it was restless near the Kola Peninsula - American and Norwegian NATO troops flew quite often, entering Soviet airspace several times a day, and aircraft carriers plowed the Barents Sea, from which these planes took off.
When Vasya, for the seventh time in a day, ran to his faithful Su-27, putting on a helmet on the move ... He probably really wanted to use fire to kill and missiles with a nuclear warhead, just to be sure.
But the corresponding orders were not given, and Tsymbal was left only with his good old trick. Having persuaded his comrade, he, together with him, arranges a rain of smelly kerosene for the Americans. Oddly enough, this helped a lot - the Yankees began to appear much less in the region. And there were no consequences for Vasily.
(c) author Timofey Berdikin
From regnum.ru:
Russia does not intend to enter into a confrontation with the United States because of the drone
Ambassador Antonov called the incident with an American drone in the Black Sea a provocation
Russia does not intend to enter into a confrontation with the United States after the incident with an American drone found in the Black Sea. This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov .
"The Russian Federation considers the incident with an American drone in the sky over the Black Sea as a provocation," he said.
At the same time, the ambassador stressed that the United States and Russia should be extremely careful in their actions in connection with the events in Eastern Europe and build "pragmatic relations for the benefit of both countries." Antonov also spoke about the meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried and noted that the consequences of the incident for Moscow are not discussed in Washington.
As REGNUM reported , after the incident with the MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea, the Russian ambassador to the United States was summoned to the State Department. US Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy is due to visit the Russian Foreign Ministry also in the wake of the incident.
