Su-27 Collision With Reaper Drone: Russia Opens Pandora's Box

The Kremlin has a new problem.

On March 14, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, causing the drone to crash into international waters.

On Radio NV, military expert Vladyslav Seleznev explained what actions the United States could take in response:

— The reconnaissance and strike drone also works in the interests of Ukrainian intelligence. It quite effectively monitors the actions of Putin's invaders in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol. At least, it records all takeoffs of enemy aircraft from the military airports of the Crimea, as well as the movement of other types of weapons, military equipment, and missile launches from ground complexes. All this is recorded and transmitted in real time to the corresponding command posts.

It was too an eyesore to Putin's invaders, and they resorted to such a provocation.

The problem for the Russians is that they open Pandora's box in this way.

The fact is that the Americans have a lot of such systems — shock-search and shock-reconnaissance drones.

As for vigilance against the aggressive actions of Russian aviation, I think that the Americans will make certain efforts to ensure that such incidents have an appropriate and adequate solution.

Will this lead to an armed clash between the US and Russian Armed Forces in the Black Sea? I don't think so. If only because the Montreux Convention works. Accordingly, American warships do not have the authority, the right to enter the Black Sea through the Bosporus and Dardanelles.

But after all, on the territory of Romania there are military formations of the US Armed Forces, in particular the aviation wing, which can perform tasks to cover the actions of reconnaissance and strike drones.

Will the American command in Europe resort to such actions? It is not known exactly. But the fact that the situation tends to worsen is obvious to me.

The MQ-9 Reaper is the main attack drone of the US Army. It can carry AGM-114 precision-guided missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, AIM-9X air-to-air missiles and other weapons. The MQ-9 Reaper is capable of detecting an enemy on the ground through clouds, and can fly autonomously for up to 27 hours.