The US vows to continue its surveillance missions in the Black Sea

Defense Department chief Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday to continue conducting reconnaissance missions over the Black Sea near Ukraine, a day after an incident in which the United States reported that a Russian fighter jet collided with an American droneforcing the drone operator to drop it into the water.

“The United States will continue to fly and operate wherever international law allows,” Austin told defense leaders of allied countries supporting Ukraine against Russia’s 13-month invasion.

“It is up to Russia to operate its aircraft in a safe and professional manner,” Pentagon chief Austin told his counterparts in a virtual meeting from military headquarters.

The US reported in denouncing the shootdown that the downed MQ-9 drone was “carrying out routine operations” in international airspace on Tuesday, when a pair of Russian planes “engaged in dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional practices.”

Washington called the episode “dangerous.” While Russia has said it is considering trying to recover the drone, but US officials say their agents were able to remotely wipe the software confidentiality of the device to prevent Moscow from collecting secret information before sending the plane to the Black Sea.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told on Wednesday that the drone “has not been recovered and I’m not sure we can get it back.” The United States has no naval presence in the Black Sea, which is largely controlled by Russia.

Russia denied that its Su-27 jets came into contact with the US drone and blamed the operator of the drone for the crash.

[Parte de la información para este reporte provino de la agencia Reuters]

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