A RUSSIAN fighter jet has smashed into a US Reaper drone over the Black Sea today, the US military said.
The American-made drone was taken down while flying over the Black Sea near the Ukraine frontline.
A Russian Su-27 jet struck the propeller of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, requiring it to be brought down in the water and resulting in the loss of the aircraft, the US military said in a statement.
Prior to the collision, two Su-27s "dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9," it said.
US Air Force General James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa condemned the Russian action.
"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," he said.
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"In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash."
The area where the incident is believed to be whee there is intense NATO military activity close to the Ukraine war frontlines.
White House spokesman John Kirby while there have been other such intercepts, this one was notable because it caused the downing of a U.S aircraft.
"So it's unique in that regard," Kirby added.
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"The State Department will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts, and expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept."
The United States uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes and has operated the drones in a variety of location, including in the Middle East and Africa.
Other countries, including Britain and France, also fly Reapers.
Several US MQ-9s have been lost in recent years, including to hostile action.
One was shot down in 2019 over Yemen with a surface-to-air missile fired by Huthi rebels, who also unsuccessfully fired on another of the drones a few days later.
According to media reports, a US MQ-9 crashed in Libya in 2022.
Another went down during a training exercise in Romania earlier in the year and another was lost over Libya in 2019.
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