According to journalists, a Russian aircraft collided with an American UAV in the air about 72 km southwest of the Crimean peninsula.
The United States was able to remotely erase sensitive software on an MQ-9 Reaper UAV before it crashed into the Black Sea. CNN writes about this, citing its sources.
It is reported that this was done so that the Russian side could not get secret information using American software.
According to a US official, the mid-air collision between a Russian aircraft and an American UAV occurred about 72 kilometers southwest of the Crimean peninsula. According to the official, the drone fell about 112 km southwest of Crimea, having managed to fly away from the occupied territory of Ukraine.
The publication also writes that John Kirby, coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications, said on March 14 that Washington was able to protect its “assets” associated with the downed drone. However, he did not go into details.
“And it’s the property of the United States. We obviously don’t want anyone to get their hands on this,” Kirby said.
Earlier on March 15, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said that the Russian Federation was going to raise an American MQ-9 drone from the bottom of the Black Sea. According to him, the downed UAV is supposedly evidence that the United States is actually taking part in the war in Ukraine.
The media also simulated the downing of a UAV over the Black Sea. The footage released by the CBS channel shows that the Su-27 fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces flew over the UAV several times and dropped jet fuel on it, which caused the device to fail.
