The US has sent a new reconnaissance drone to the Black Sea, despite Russian threats

The US sent a new reconnaissance drone that flew over the Black Sea despite Russian warnings. According to the flight tracking portal FlightRadar24, the RQ-4 Global Hawk was spotted over 15 km above the southern part of the Black Sea. Data shows that the drone entered international airspace via Romania and moved from west to east. According to FlightRadar24, the drone was operating in international airspace southeast of Crimea.

At a press conference on Thursday, March 16, journalists asked Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder when the US would fly drone missions again. He replied: “I will not talk about specific missions, routes and timelines of the operation. I think [министр обороны США Ллойд] Austin was quite clear that we would continue to fly and operate in international airspace where international law allows it, including the Black Sea region.”

The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a reconnaissance drone capable of performing long-duration missions at high altitudes with the ability to track and collect information. The drone is much larger than the MQ-9 Reaper that crashed on Tuesday.

According to CNN, the U.S. military is evaluating drone operations over the Black Sea after a Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. UAV. The Pentagon is “carefully examining” drone routes and assessing how best to resolve the situation with the Russian side.

On March 14, the European Command of the US Armed Forces reported a collision between a Russian Su-27 fighter and an MQ-9 Reaper drone, after which the drone fell into the sea. State Department spokesman Ned Price accused the Russian pilots of incompetence. Washington described Russia’s actions as unacceptable. dangerous and unfriendly.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have gone there, who shouldn’t? Then everything would be environmentally friendly,” replied Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president.