Posted on 03/14/2023 12:11:12 PM PDT by bitt
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby offered a weak initial response on Tuesday to the Russian attack that forced down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. Kirby said he expected the State Department would ‘reach out and expressly and directly make our concerns known about this incident with Russian officials.’ Kirby did say the attack would not deter U.S. flights over the Black Sea, but did not mention any U.S. response. Kirby also said that Joe Biden, out in California, had been briefed Tuesday morning on the incident by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, but had no statement from Biden to relay to reporters.
From veteran reporter Laura Rozen via Twitter, “NSC’s John Kirby, asked if US Russian contact since downing of US drone over Black Sea, says knows it is the State Dept’s intention to reach out and expressly directly, make our concerns known about this incident with Russian officials. But whether that has occurred, can’t say…Kirby: As for message sending, that is a great question for the Russian Ministry of Defense. …If the message is they want to deter us from flying over international air space over the black sea, then that will fail.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thegatewaypundit.com ...
The world is laughing at the U.S. as They keep pushing this ‘yacht’ conspiracy about NordStream. Reports from foreign news services and social media sites around the world have people doubly laughing at the U.S. whining about an unmanned ‘peaceful sightseeing’ drone (shot down flying towards Russia with its transponders turned off) all as thousands of Ukrainian teenagers prepare to get slaughtered in Bahkmut with not a blink of concern for them. The Chinese brokered Iran/Saudi Arabia deal, the Yaun overtaking the dollar on the world trade markets, and now the banks. It’s all snowballing faster and faster and the Biden administration looks pathetically weak and as Keystone Cops in the eyes of the Governments of the world, even among those of their ‘western allies’ in the EU and Nato. The U.S.is done as the world influencer, mover and shaker. These are dangerous developments though as hell hath no fury like the US scorned.
It was a provocation.
OH NOES not a strongly written letter..this time use all capitol letters that outta scare the hell outta Putin LOL LOL
That’s better than a strong response; the devils in charge of the US want to start a war with Russia. The US needs to get the #$@!! out of Ukraine. Stop sending $ and materiel.
MSNBC finally has their Moscow Pee-tapes.
‘reach out and expressly and directly make our concerns known about this incident
Good God!!!
We need to reach out with long skinny things that go really fast and makes a boom on impact.
Must’ve been Kamala blowing it, really really hard.
Most likely, the Russians just shot the drone, or dropped ball bearings into its path and damaged it so severely that it could not return, so the controllers made the call to ditch it.
We have plenty more drones where that one came from. Forty million dollars per unit is pocket lint as the current war expenses go.
This is Russia taking out an unmanned US asset that was being used to assist Ukraine forces in the war against Russian forces. Not quite the same thing as shooting down an AWACS plane.
We are not going to escalate to WW-3 over a drone. Maybe not even over an AWACS. The Russians will do what they can to stop the US from assisting the Ukraine. I expect they will shoot down more of our drones. They might even start harassing AWACS in some way. Maybe with laser blinding shots from "unidentified militia forces" in ground locations.
The Russians will get much more aggressive against us if Russian forces start losing in a Ukraine counterattack. So far, that has not happened.
I agree most likely the drone was shot down. Order of events matters, though. Did the russkies fire at the drone or fire back at the drone?
“You’re bweaking my barrs, Hans, you’re bweaking my barrs.”
Good story about the Russia SU-27 clipped the prop on the MQ-9 drone dumped fuel on it first
The Sun UK
US military has confirmed they use these drones to collect and feed Ukes intelligence on russkie movements, targeting, etc.
Does that not make it a legit military target?
Just asking before peeps get their panties in a wad.
The drone would have been unarmed with a reconnaissance package. It wasn't there to shoot at Russians. No real risk to the fighter pilots So, the Russians would have made the first move. It would not have been anything dangerous to their aircraft or pilots. Those are too valuable to lose.
But one thing they would want is to salvage an intact recon package. The best chance of that would be to do something that disabled the drone without smashing it into little pieces. No missiles, then. Even cannon fire might be too much.
The Russians have brilliant engineers. They probably came up with something inexpensive they thought might work and tried it out. Something that would wreck the propulsion system without damage to the rest of the unit.
Did it work? Nobody who knows is going to tell us.
My guess is that the drone was ditched in the Caspian Sea and the Russians may try to salvage it if they can. The drone mission planners may have installed self-destruct mechanisms before the drone launched, or maybe they did not consider that important.
Think, this guy was actually a Rear Admiral, who held a lieutenant’s job as the Pentagon’s paid liar.
Yes, it does. And the Russians have plainly stated this.
They are not going to accept "rules of engagement" that put them at a disadvantage. We can scold all we want. It will not change their behavior in any way.
They will take out more of our drones. The drone intelligence feeds provide too big an advantage to Ukraine forces for the Russians to allow them.
“The entire apparatus of US electronic and satellite intelligence are being used to give Ukraine direct, immediate, targeting and war-fighting ability.”
Part of this is true. The US is certainly helping provide hi-res GPS coordinates to Ukrainian forces using HIMARS, else the Ukes would not be able to be so precise in their targeting. One US capability that is little discussed is precise terrestrial mapping, the ability to translate imagery into exact GPS coordinates. This capability is extremely powerful.
However, its unlikely that the US is in a position to choose the HIMARS targets or prioritize them. I expect the process goes something like this - - Ukrainian, pointing at a recon picture - “Here is target” American - “number number number”.
Providing current US satellite recon information - in what format and to what degree - is probably very filtered. That is critical though, as this prevents strategic or operational surprise on the part of Russia. Any troop concentration is easily ID’ed almost before it has begun, giving Ukraine time to respond, or otherwise prepare, as needed.
The Ukes have part of this just through the use of commercial satellite services - a factor that isn’t often discussed in its general effect on global military matters. Any country can buy, cheaply, some of what the US has to offer. Not as frequent overflights, or as high resolution, but it has to be considered, and could be a game changer for all wars going forward..
Arguably the US may also be providing communications intelligence also, as in identifying locations with, say, fiber connections plus emissions only US assets can detect. How much of that is going on is a question, as releasing this info is also troublesome as that would tend to give away US capabilities.
” the USA is effectively running the Ukraine war.”
Considering the rumblings from US and NATO officials, I doubt this very much. The Ukrainians have their own political and strategic priorities. They know their own people and forces much better than the foreign staffs do. The US/NATO obviously has their own wargamed plan for Ukraine, which is normal staff work, and no doubt this has been given to the Ukrainians as detailed advice, but the Ukrainians aren’t necessarily on board. Anybody who has delved deep into the history of Allied operations in any war knows how this goes.
Trade a reaper for a jet? That is a good trade.
Thanks for that.
I have no idea of total NATO/US capabilities, so can’t imagine what’s being offered, or withheld.
Nonetheless, after 1 year, there must be a highly integrated structure between Ukraine military and NATO/US intelligence. Where is the line drawn? hard to say
The question is not how fast the jet can fly, but how slow it can fly and remain controllable. That speed can be as low as 100 knots or less. And if you are a high enough altitude you have plenty of space to recover speed and control of the aircraft.
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