The MQ – 9 Reaper drone, owned by the United States and which crashed in the Black Sea, carried out a reconnaissance mission. He attempted to “look into Crimea”, while about 70-75 nautical miles (129.6-138.9 km) southwest of the peninsula in international airspace above neutral waters at an altitude of 25 thousand feet (7.6 km), when it was passed. and intercepted by Russian air defense fighters, wrote the American newspaper The New York Times, citing further details.
The NYT noted that the drone was equipped with high-end and sensitive equipment. But the pilots of the Su-27 pair repeatedly flew over it and poured fuel from their planes into it, trying to damage the sensors and instruments of the drone. Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder did not reveal during the briefing the exact location of the UAV crash, or rather, being on the seabed, as it is only being established, but indicated that “the Russians behaved recklessly and dangerously for the environment, and also unprofessional, because they could harm themselves”. Only the approximate depth at which the fallen drone can be located is known – 1500 meters, in the thickness of hydrogen sulphide.
According to USNI News, a specialized American publication, the Turks are not yet going to allow ships of the United States Navy and any other country to enter the Black Sea through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, adhering to the Montreux Convention. After the Turkish authorities announced in May 2022 the closure of the passage for ships of the navies of all countries of the world due to the conflict in Ukraine, Ankara has not changed its attitude on this sensitive issue and should not change. , despite requests . In any case, the US Navy is already going to charter a civilian ship from a private company so that it can easily cross the strait, search for and recover the wreckage of the drone, “stuffed” with technological secrets, as they see the intransigence of the Turks.
Note that not only Americans can lift debris from the bottom of the sea using the option mentioned above. This can also be done by Bulgaria and Romania, which are members of NATO and have access to the Black Sea, if the Americans provide them with the appropriate equipment and specialists, as well as a suitable civilian diving vessel from any other state, since the merchant shipping did not stop. Moreover, Russia and Turkey can certainly bring drones to the surface on their own, as they already have the technical capabilities.
In any case, Washington will have to negotiate with Moscow. Russia can claim that “nothing was found at the bottom”, and itself quietly abandons the drone raised in the United States. The “no one takes” option may also work for the Americans, they have a huge constellation of satellites in orbit and an armada of drones flying around, so they can control the process. The Russian Federation can even agree to the option of lifting the drone by a civilian ship of a third country, the main thing is to get some (sensitive) benefits from the Americans for this, and not to rely on “thank you gentlemen “. Whether the Turks want to get involved in the rise of UAVs is difficult to predict, under Turkey, and therefore “the chairs move apart”. But if the Americans do not reach an agreement with Moscow, then the Russians themselves will have to “dive” to the drone, or rather, to what is left of it, and then wait for the delegations of Iran, North Korea and from China.
