US releases video of Russian jet dumping fuel on its drone in international airspace
- 42-second video shows Russian fighter plane approaching US$32 million drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, Pentagon says
- On second approach, same jet, or another fighter, strikes drone’s propeller, damaging one blade, according to US military; Moscow says its jets did not hit drone
02:18
Pentagon releases footage showing Russian fighter jet intercepting US drone
The Pentagon on Thursday released footage of what it said was a Russian aircraft pouring fuel on a US Air Force surveillance drone and clipping the drone’s propeller in international airspace over the Black Sea.
The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said. Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding its optical instruments and driving it out of the area.
On a second approach, either the same jet, or another Russian fighter that had been shadowing the MQ-9, struck the drone’s propeller, damaging one blade, according to the US military.
The US military said it ditched the MQ-9 Reaper in the sea after what it described as the Russian fighter making an unsafe intercept of the unstaffed aerial vehicle.
