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US says drone recovery difficult as Russian ships at crash site
Aljazeera ^ | 16 Mar 2023 | Unnamed

Posted on 03/16/2023 4:33:39 AM PDT by tlozo

US General Mark Milley said the MQ-9 Reaper drone sank in an area of the Black Sea where depths are up to 1,500 metres.

Recovery of a US surveillance drone that crashed after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets would be challenging given the deep waters in the Black Sea, a senior United States general said, as reports emerged of Russian vessels at the crash site.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said remains of the uncrewed MQ-9 Reaper drone, which the US claims was brought down by one of two Russian Su-27 jets clipping the drone’s propeller, sank in waters as deep as 1,219 to 1,524 meters (4,000 to 5,000 feet).

“It probably sank to some significant depths, so any recovery operation from a technical standpoint would be very difficult,” Milley told reporters on Wednesday. Milley added it would take several days before the US would know for certain the size of the debris field.

Moscow – which denies that its jets were in physical contact with the drone – said it would try to retrieve the drone wreckage as reports emerged on Thursday of US officials confirming that Russian ships had reached the crash site.

ABC News senior Pentagon reporter Luis Martinez tweeted that two US officials had confirmed the presence of Russian ships at the location of the crash in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea borders both Russia and Ukraine.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Wednesday that Russia would attempt a recovery operation for the US spy drone.

“I don’t know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done. And we’ll certainly work on it. I hope, of course, successfully,” he said.

Milley said the US had taken measures to ensure there would be no loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be salvaged by Russia.

“We’re quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value,” Milley said.

Patrushev also said the drone incident proved that the US was involved in the war in Ukraine. “This is another confirmation that they are directly involved in these actions, in the war,” he said.

Moscow’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said Washington deploying a drone thousands of kilometres from the US and near to Russia’s borders proved it was collecting intelligence for the Ukrainian army to help it carry out attacks on Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials cautioned on Wednesday that the drone’s downing signalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to “expand the conflict”.

“The purpose of this all-in tactic is to always be raising the stakes,” Ukraine’s Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on social media.

But with US officials saying the Russian plane may have unintentionally collided with the drone and Moscow maintaining the jets did not interfere physically with the aircraft, it appeared both sides were focused on restraint and averting a military escalation at a time of already fraught relations over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Milley, the US general, said it was clear the intercept and harassment of the drone by Russian jets was intentional but it was unclear whether the Russian aircraft deliberately made contact with the MQ-9 – a manoeuvre that could also put the Russian jet at risk.

“Was it intentional or not? Don’t know yet,” Milley said.

Earlier on Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the incident was likely unintentional.

Milley also spoke with his Russian counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a rare phone call on Wednesday, the Pentagon said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, after the incident but did not reveal details of their conversation.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: drone; russia; us; zottherussiantrolls
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Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Wednesday that Russia would attempt a recovery operation for the US spy drone.
1 posted on 03/16/2023 4:33:39 AM PDT by tlozo
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To: tlozo

Just get on the line to the Uke masterminds who blew Nordstream. They have experience planting explosives on the sea bed in deep water. This is so simple if you just have faith in the big guy.


2 posted on 03/16/2023 4:38:29 AM PDT by hardspunned (Former DC GOP globalist stooge)
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To: tlozo

>> Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said... “It probably sank to some significant depths”

PROBABLY??!? You don’t KNOW, you rainbow-woke-faggotloving a-hole? PROBABLY???

Our command level military is a joke. We the people are in grave danger because of their malevolence and incompetence.


3 posted on 03/16/2023 4:39:33 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Truth is not hate speech.)
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To: tlozo

“It was a weather research drone that went off course,” said Pentagon spokesman Pary Gowers.


4 posted on 03/16/2023 4:45:08 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: hardspunned

I have heard the US wanted Romania to get to the wreckage first but that Russia already has the wreckage. It was closer to Crimea.


5 posted on 03/16/2023 4:45:20 AM PDT by dforest (All of America has derailed.)
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To: Nervous Tick

They don’t have a GPS transponder?

Isn’t that common sense?


6 posted on 03/16/2023 4:51:21 AM PDT by struggle
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To: Nervous Tick

The first report was it was damaged in flight and they put it down. Now it crashed and sank.


7 posted on 03/16/2023 4:51:25 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (The government's lying liars love to lie)
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To: tlozo

It was a spy drone and we don’t really know if it was totally flying over International Waters. Ask that U-2 Pilot how it works...what was his name...Gary Powers.


8 posted on 03/16/2023 4:52:12 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: tlozo

Damn Ukies want us to be in this War...hook line and sinker.


9 posted on 03/16/2023 4:53:04 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: struggle
They don’t have a GPS transponder?

It supposedly sank to a depth of 1,500 meters.

10 posted on 03/16/2023 4:53:29 AM PDT by tlozo (Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: Joe 6-pack

they should’ve used a white balloon ...


11 posted on 03/16/2023 4:53:45 AM PDT by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
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To: hardspunned
The Ukrainians did not blow up the Russian natural gas pipelines - it was America. Full stop.
How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream
“Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.”

12 posted on 03/16/2023 4:55:47 AM PDT by wildcard_redneck (Biden will mess up the Ukraine worse than Afghanistan.)
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To: Sacajaweau
It was a spy drone and we don’t really know if it was totally flying over International Waters.

Even the Russians themselves admit it was in international air space. Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to Washington, claimed the US drone had “deliberately and provocatively” approached Moscow's airspace.

13 posted on 03/16/2023 4:57:05 AM PDT by tlozo (Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: tlozo

Oh, no doubt, when the Russians finish their ‘investigation’ of the site, they might let NATO have a peak.


14 posted on 03/16/2023 5:09:54 AM PDT by BobL
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To: Joe 6-pack

“Pentagon spokesman Pary Gowers.”

Now THAT is an interesting name.


15 posted on 03/16/2023 5:10:20 AM PDT by Tupelo (A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand)
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To: tlozo

“Even the Russians themselves admit it was in international air space.”

My understanding is that the drone was in a No-Fly Zone, and did not have AUTHORIZATION to enter. Therefore, it was fair game.


16 posted on 03/16/2023 5:13:04 AM PDT by BobL
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To: Nervous Tick

Grave danger? Is there another kind. Frankly given the state of our general officers I’d rather have jack Nickelson as chief of staff.


17 posted on 03/16/2023 5:17:25 AM PDT by Mouton (The enemy of the people is the media )
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To: BobL

your understanding is wrong


18 posted on 03/16/2023 5:17:51 AM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: BobL
when the Russians finish their ‘investigation’ of the site

Russia doesn't have any deep-dive or deep-submersible capability

they can try dragging the bottom, but that's about all they'll be able to do


19 posted on 03/16/2023 5:20:02 AM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: canuck_conservative

“Russia doesn’t have any deep-dive or deep-submersible capability”

Link please, or you’re trolling again.


20 posted on 03/16/2023 5:22:08 AM PDT by BobL
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