Russian ships have already arrived at the Black Sea drone crash site, a US defense official told Fox News.
Almost immediately after the MQ-9 drone was cut off by a Su-27 fighter jet and crashed into the water, Russia sent ships to search the debris field.
“You wasted no time,” the defense official told Fox News.
US VIDEO SHOWS MOMENT WHEN RUSSIAN FIGHTER JET COLLIDES WITH US DRONE
The US European Command on Thursday released video of a Russian Su-27 fighter jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14. A screenshot shows a jet dumping fuel. (European US Command)
However, a separate US official with knowledge of the situation is not confident that Russia will be able to obtain any drone debris.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Wednesday the area of the Black Sea where the drone landed was between 4,000 and 5,000 feet deep.
RUSSIA ATTEMPTS TO RECOVER DETACHED US DRONE
The US European Command on Thursday released video of a Russian Su-27 fighter jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14. (European US Command)
He made the remarks during a press conference at the Pentagon alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Milley speculated that the debris from the drone has likely already sunk to “considerable depths,” making recovery a difficult prospect.
RUSSIA ATTEMPTS TO RECOVER DETACHED US DRONE
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley attend a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon March 15, 2023 in Washington, DC (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told CNN on Wednesday that the U.S. military was already taking steps to “protect our stocks” and that they didn’t want anyone else “to get their hands on it.” . [the drone].”
“Without going into too much detail, I can say that we have taken steps to protect our stock in relation to this particular drone, aircraft and its property in the United States,” Kirby said. “Obviously we don’t want anyone but us to get their hands on it.”
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Later, Kirby struck a far less hopeful tone.
“It hasn’t been recovered and I’m not sure we can recover it. I mean where it dropped into the Black Sea, very, very deep water,” Kirby told CNN. “So we are still evaluating if any recovery efforts can be made there. There may not be any.”
The US Navy has no vessels operating in the Black Sea, a US European Command spokesman told Fox News on Wednesday.
Source : www.foxnews.com