On Tuesday, two Russian fighter jets intercepted a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone flying over the Black Sea. A jet plane shot down a drone on the high seas, starting a race between Washington, DC and Moscow to retrieve it. This competition could extend to the depths of the Black Sea.
The multipurpose workhorse of the US military, the MQ-9, may have been reporting Russian maritime activity related to the war in Ukraine when it encountered a Russian twin-engine Su-27 jet. Air Force General James B. Hecker said in his statement that the Russian aircraft made “dangerous and unprofessional” maneuvers.
When Russia challenged the US version of the events, the US government declassified the video footage captured by the Reaper with astonishing speed. Eventually one of his Russian aircraft struck her four-blade propeller that powers the drone from behind, causing the propeller blades to snap and the MQ-9 to crash into the water, according to the Pentagon. It is said that he did.
The next day, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, declared: Moscow had the ability to recover Wreckage of MQ-9. But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, suggested at a press conference Wednesday that there would be few concerns left for the Russians to find.
“As for the loss of sensitive information…we’ve taken mitigation measures,” Millie said. have the ability to remotely disable or destroy parts of the
The standard MQ-9 Reaper is equipped with a so-called multispectral targeting system. This includes many visual sensors, especially infrared (IR) sensors and electro-optical (EO) sensors, which consist of color sensors and black and white daylight TV cameras. Footage from his three different cameras on these two sensors can be viewed as video streams. The drone also has a small Lynx radar to detect motion and activity on the ground. Additionally, the Reaper has other equipment-carrying structures called pylons. Depending on the mission, these can support additional sensors, or bombs and missiles.
But “this MQ-9 wasn’t armed. It only had sensors,” said David Deptura, a former Air Force lieutenant general and former deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. increase.
Even without weapons, the MQ-9 may have, at least initially, carried technology that rewarded Russia’s recovery efforts. “The value Russia gets from recovery depends on what is on board the aircraft,” says Deptura. “If it had some sort of proprietary sensor on board, that would be one thing. /Constructed in nominal mode with an IR payload sensor and Lynx radar, the Russians won’t lose much if they retrieve it.
This is not the first time the US Department of Defense may lose MQ-9 technology. In 2017, a Reaper was shot down in Yemen. In 2019, a missile shot down his MQ-9 in Libya. 2020 also saw another loss in Syria.
And the Pentagon may continue to try to recover the drone it shot down this month. “We are evaluating our options,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig said. General Pat Ryder during Thursday’s press conference.
Milley said the US government knew exactly where MQ-9 landed in the Black Sea. [at a depth of] Probably about 4,000 feet or 5,000 feet deep, something like that,” the general said. “So recovery operations at that depth are very difficult for anyone.” When the U.S. military lost her F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the South China Sea last year, she pulled up from 12,400 feet deep. It took him five weeks.
Potential options for salvaging the MQ-9 likely include plans drawn up by the Office of Naval Ocean Engineering’s Diving and Salvaging Supervisors. That office oversees a warehouse full of deepwater salvage equipment, including an array of self-driving and remotely operated vehicles and portable lift systems. These machines work together to locate the wreckage and pull it up through thousands of feet of water.
But its bulky equipment and contractors trained to carry out missions on behalf of the U.S. government are based in Largo, Maryland, far from the wreckage of the downed drone. Just getting there would take a significant amount of time if the US were to go on a recovery mission. First, the military would have to hire commercial ships in the Black Sea to house the equipment and temporarily weld it to the ship’s deck. After that, it will take more time to search and retrieve the wreckage. In other words, the US recovery won’t happen anytime soon.
As for Russia, little is known about its deepwater recovery capabilities. But such a mission could involve dragging a 36-foot-long, 4,900-pound aircraft through thousands of feet of water. If it breaks apart when it hits the water, you’ll have to comb through the ocean floor looking for many square miles to retrieve it. It’s an extraordinary feat for anyone.
