US Drones 'Heavily Involved' in Guiding Kiev's Forces Before Russian Intercept
© Photo : US Air Force
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The crash of a US surveillance drone in the Black Sea earlier this month was a major embarrassment for the Pentagon. International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda said the incident also crippled efforts to target Russian troop positions for Ukraine's forces.
A senior US military source told media earlier this week that US spy drones were "for the time being" giving a wide berth to Russia's Black Sea Coast "to avoid being too provocative."
The source admitted that the new route plan "definitely limits our ability to gather intelligence," but there was "an appetite" at the Pentagon to return to more aggressive operations.
The changes followed last week's incident when a US MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the sea after it was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets while flying towards the Crimean region with its identifying transponder turned off.
The US Department of Defense claimed the Russian pilots dumped fuel on the drone in several close passes, then one collided with it, damaging the propeller.
But video footage released by the Pentagon ostensibly from the UAV, which it has failed to recover, crucially cuts before the alleged moment of impact, resuming with the drone flying in a different direction at much lower altitude.
The US has released the footage of the drone incident over the Black Sea.
— Hassan Mafi (@thatdayin1992) March 16, 2023
So, a US fighter jet fired a $400,000 Sidewinder missile to down a Chinese weather balloon, and a Russian fighter jet downed a US Reaper drone by just urinating on it.
You can't make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/q5YEu2QztW
The Russian Ministry of Defence said the Reaper lost control after attempting rapid evasive manoeuvres and crashed into the sea.
International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda posed the question to Sputnik: "Did it crash or was it brought down?"
He scoffed out that the US version of events was that "Russian pilots, without firing a shot, brought that reaper down."
The analyst also pointed out that western media reports of the Reaper incident have failed to mention that Russia declared a restricted air and sea space zone around Crimea at the start of its special military operation to de-Nazify Ukraine in February 2022.
"There is a normal precedent when militaries are involved to restrict airspace, to protect themselves and to keep other commercial traffic and other nations right out of the military zone," Sleboda stressed. "The US has restricted airspace over east Syria, where its occupation forces are still there... The US did the same thing around the northern part of the Persian Gulf there during its invasion of Iraq."
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who was Pentagon press secretary until late May 2022, has insisted that US Air Force flights would continue as close as 12 miles from Russian territory in accordance with "international law."
"Well, they lost the plane," Sleboda said. "They lost the drone because of it. And now they have reassessed and they're flying further back some 40 nautical miles now, respecting de facto, even as they're denying it."
16 March 2023, 16:13 GMT
The foreign policy expert said the Pentagon's admission that the more southerly route taking by its aircraft since the incident was severely inhibiting their intelligence gathering capability — and its "appetite" to return — meant Russia's assertion of its no-fly zone would have a significant effect on fighting on the ground.
"They were very heavily involved in directing Kiev regime forces targeting on the ground," he explained. "And they feel that the their quality of intelligence is inhibiting the effectiveness of Kiev regime forces on the battle because they're used to real time, more accurate information of Russian forces."
"It is largely underestimated how important a role intelligence like that is in this conflict," Sleboda said. "It is very important. It is a huge advantage."
"Russia let the US know that they were too close and they set a precedent," Sleboda said. "If you send unmanned aircraft, at the very least here, we will bring it down because you are now a part of the conflict and you are getting Russians killed."
He pointed out that the US would not accept military aircraft from a foreign country such as Cuba flying so close to its naval stations, "providing real time intelligence" as its drones and manned electronic intelligence aircraft are doing around its main Black Sea base at Sevastopol in Crimea. "The US, at least for the moment, is backing off," he noted.
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