Jets from the UK and Germany are keeping watch.
The Pentagon released footage that depicts a portion of the encounter on Tuesday when two Russian fighter jet pilots appeared to dump fuel on a U.S. drone, then damaged its propeller, sending it into the Black Sea.
Now the Defense Department reports that Russia is attempting to recover the downed drone. British and German fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian planes over the area as part of a NATO Air Policing action.
“Any aircraft that are not communicating with Air Traffic Control or on a recognized flight plan will be intercepted by us to ensure we know who they are and maintain flight safety for all airspace users,” the U.K. Typhoon pilot, who remains anonymous, said. “It is clear that all of our training and hard work paid off as we seamlessly operated together.”
The secretary of Russia’s security council confirmed that his country will attempt to recover the wreckage of the drone. American defense officials would not answer whether a recovery attempt would be made.
However, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, said, “I’m not sure that we’re going to be able to recover it. I mean, where it fell into the Black Sea, very, very deep water. We’re still assessing whether there can be any recovery effort mounted. That may not be.”
He added, “We did the best we could to minimize any intelligence value that might come from somebody else getting their hands on that drone.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the president and secretary of defense as they determine how to respond to the downed drone.
- With gratitude for European allies who support American national security.
- For wisdom for General Cavoli as he heads the U.S. European Command.
Sources: Washington Examiner, Newsmax, CNN
