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Russia’s apparent attack of a U.S. drone in international airspace on Tuesday quickly sparked concerns, spurring anxiety in Washington and drumming up fear across the nation of a wider escalation between the two countries.
The Biden administration and lawmakers have blasted Russia for what they called an unprofessional and unsafe maneuver in which two Russian jets damaged a U.S. MQ-9, forcing it to crash land in the Black Sea Tuesday.
Top American defense officials and experts quickly pointed out the unusual nature of the incident.
“This is extremely unusual, I’m not aware of an incident like this that’s occurred over the last year of conflict over there,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told The Hill.
Intercepts between U.S. and Russian aircraft are not uncommon, with several cases happening near Alaskan airspace so far this year. But the drone incident “is uncommon and unfortunate and unsafe,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.
While it’s unclear if this was a case of a rogue pilot or not, the U.S. European Command called the Russian actions “dangerous,” noting that they “could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.”
U.S. aircraft have operated over the Black Sea since before Russia invaded Ukraine, using the highly advanced MQ-9 spy drone to keep eyes on the region.
But Tuesday’s incident marks the first publicly known case of a Russian warplane purposely damaging a U.S. aircraft amid the conflict.
Administration officials said the MQ-9 was flying over the Black Sea on a routine flight before it was flanked by two Russian jets.
The jets flew alongside the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before one of the jets flew in front of it and dumped fuel. One of the Kremlin jets then struck the drone’s propeller, forcing it to crash into the Black Sea.
While there have been a number of close-call incidents with Russian aircraft in the past, what makes this case unique is it involves an uncrewed U.S. aircraft, a detail that could keep tensions from blowing up, according to Becca Wasser, a senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security.
“The incident is deeply concerning given the context in which it takes place, but the fact that it was an uncrewed platform is likely to reduce the chances of it boiling over,” she told The Hill.
