Footage of the incident between a Russian fighter jet and a US surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday has been released by the US military’s European Command. The video, which was recently declassified, captures significant moments of the mid-air altercation that lasted approximately 30-40 minutes according to the Pentagon.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone’s camera shows its tail and rear-mounted propeller spinning before the approaching Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jet dumps fuel as it intercepts the US drone.
The Russian fighter jet makes another pass in the footage and drops fuel as it gets closer.
As a result, the footage from the drone is cut short. Russia has disputed that there was a collision.
When the camera turns around, the view is once more rearward, and the damaged propeller is visible.
The drone’s pilots then had to operate it like a glider as it descended over the Black Sea with a damaged propeller, and it landed in international seas southwest of Crimea.
