U.S. military releases declassified footage showing Russian fighter jet collision with drone
The U.S. European Command has released declassified footage from the MQ-9 drone just as it collides with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet.
It was reported yesterday that a U.S. military spy drone was intercepted and taken down by a Russian Su-27 fighter jet that first attempted to spray it with jet fuel. The collision caused the drone to crash into the Black Sea.
Russia’s ministry of defense denied the claims that they caused the crash, saying that the drone “went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface”.
Declassified video leaves little doubt
Today, the U.S. military released declassified video taken by the MQ-9 drone which shows the exact moment the Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with it. You can see the attempts to spray it with jet fuel just before the collision as well.
The video is taken from the bottom of the drone and you can see clearly how the collision happens at the back before the footage pixelates and turns to colour bars. The picture comes back for a moment, enough to see that the propeller blade had been damaged in the collision. The European Command said the video is “edited for length, however, the events are depicted in sequential order.”