Russian Su-27 Strikes U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Drone, Downs The Drone

On Mar. 14, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet made contact with a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone's propeller in international airspace, forcing the U.S. to bring the Reaper down in the Black sea. Before the contact was made, the Su-27 "dumped fuel on, and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner" per the DoD. The offending Su-27 was able to land even though it likely suffered damage from the encounter.

The MQ-9 is primarily used for surveillance or aerial attacks and is often confused with the much larger RQ-4 Global Hawk which is strictly a surveillance drone. The Russian Su-27 is a long-range air defense fighter jet designed to compete with the now-retired F-14 Tomcat & the still-active F-15 Eagle.

An MQ-9 Reaper similar to the one involved.

A Russian Su-27 similar to the one involved.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Photo sources: https://www.newsweek.com/us-mq-9-reaper-drones-compared-russias-orion-uav-1787774, https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sukhoi-su-27-flanker-the-masterpiece-of-soviet-design-that-found-itself-on-opposite-sides-of-the-russian-ukraine-war/, https://militaryembedded.com/unmanned/payloads/rq-4-global-hawk-demonstrates-mission-management-control-features-in-flight-test

Article source: https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3329229/russian-fighter-strikes-us-unmanned-aircraft/