Posted on 03/16/2023 4:33:39 AM PDT by tlozo
US General Mark Milley said the MQ-9 Reaper drone sank in an area of the Black Sea where depths are up to 1,500 metres.
Recovery of a US surveillance drone that crashed after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets would be challenging given the deep waters in the Black Sea, a senior United States general said, as reports emerged of Russian vessels at the crash site.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said remains of the uncrewed MQ-9 Reaper drone, which the US claims was brought down by one of two Russian Su-27 jets clipping the drone’s propeller, sank in waters as deep as 1,219 to 1,524 meters (4,000 to 5,000 feet).
“It probably sank to some significant depths, so any recovery operation from a technical standpoint would be very difficult,” Milley told reporters on Wednesday. Milley added it would take several days before the US would know for certain the size of the debris field.
Moscow – which denies that its jets were in physical contact with the drone – said it would try to retrieve the drone wreckage as reports emerged on Thursday of US officials confirming that Russian ships had reached the crash site.
ABC News senior Pentagon reporter Luis Martinez tweeted that two US officials had confirmed the presence of Russian ships at the location of the crash in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea borders both Russia and Ukraine.
Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Wednesday that Russia would attempt a recovery operation for the US spy drone.
“I don’t know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done. And we’ll certainly work on it. I hope, of course, successfully,” he said.
Milley said the US had taken measures to ensure there would be no loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be salvaged by Russia.
“We’re quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value,” Milley said.
Patrushev also said the drone incident proved that the US was involved in the war in Ukraine. “This is another confirmation that they are directly involved in these actions, in the war,” he said.
Moscow’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said Washington deploying a drone thousands of kilometres from the US and near to Russia’s borders proved it was collecting intelligence for the Ukrainian army to help it carry out attacks on Russian forces.
Ukrainian officials cautioned on Wednesday that the drone’s downing signalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to “expand the conflict”.
“The purpose of this all-in tactic is to always be raising the stakes,” Ukraine’s Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on social media.
But with US officials saying the Russian plane may have unintentionally collided with the drone and Moscow maintaining the jets did not interfere physically with the aircraft, it appeared both sides were focused on restraint and averting a military escalation at a time of already fraught relations over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Milley, the US general, said it was clear the intercept and harassment of the drone by Russian jets was intentional but it was unclear whether the Russian aircraft deliberately made contact with the MQ-9 – a manoeuvre that could also put the Russian jet at risk.
“Was it intentional or not? Don’t know yet,” Milley said.
Earlier on Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the incident was likely unintentional.
Milley also spoke with his Russian counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a rare phone call on Wednesday, the Pentagon said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, after the incident but did not reveal details of their conversation.
Just get on the line to the Uke masterminds who blew Nordstream. They have experience planting explosives on the sea bed in deep water. This is so simple if you just have faith in the big guy.
>> Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said... “It probably sank to some significant depths”
PROBABLY??!? You don’t KNOW, you rainbow-woke-faggotloving a-hole? PROBABLY???
Our command level military is a joke. We the people are in grave danger because of their malevolence and incompetence.
“It was a weather research drone that went off course,” said Pentagon spokesman Pary Gowers.
I have heard the US wanted Romania to get to the wreckage first but that Russia already has the wreckage. It was closer to Crimea.
They don’t have a GPS transponder?
Isn’t that common sense?
The first report was it was damaged in flight and they put it down. Now it crashed and sank.
It was a spy drone and we don’t really know if it was totally flying over International Waters. Ask that U-2 Pilot how it works...what was his name...Gary Powers.
Damn Ukies want us to be in this War...hook line and sinker.
It supposedly sank to a depth of 1,500 meters.
they should’ve used a white balloon ...
How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream
“Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.”
Even the Russians themselves admit it was in international air space. Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to Washington, claimed the US drone had “deliberately and provocatively” approached Moscow's airspace.
Oh, no doubt, when the Russians finish their ‘investigation’ of the site, they might let NATO have a peak.
“Pentagon spokesman Pary Gowers.”
Now THAT is an interesting name.
“Even the Russians themselves admit it was in international air space.”
My understanding is that the drone was in a No-Fly Zone, and did not have AUTHORIZATION to enter. Therefore, it was fair game.
Grave danger? Is there another kind. Frankly given the state of our general officers I’d rather have jack Nickelson as chief of staff.
your understanding is wrong
“Russia doesn’t have any deep-dive or deep-submersible capability”
Link please, or you’re trolling again.
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