Friday, March 29, 2024

Russian fighter jets intercept U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone

Russian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

The crews of the Russian fighters approached the air target within a safe distance and identified him as MQ-9 Reaper multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft.

The MQ-9 Reaper is employed primarily against dynamic execution targets and secondarily as an intelligence collection asset. Given its significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons — it provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets.

- ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW -

Moreover, today, Russian fighter jets also intercepted U.S. Navy P-8A “Poseidon” patrol plane and RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

The Russian pilots have been regularly intercepting U.S. planes approaching Russia’s borders lately.

If you would like to show your support for what we are doing, here's where to do it.

If you wish to report grammatical or factual errors within our news articles, you can let us know by using the online feedback form.

Executive Editor

About author:

Colton Jones
Colton Jones
Colton Jones is the deputy editor of Defence Blog. He is a US-based journalist, writer and publisher who specializes in the defense industry in North America and Europe. He has written about emerging technology in military magazines and elsewhere. He is a former Air Force airmen and served at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

TRENDING NOW

Ukraine uncovers secrets of Russia’s new hypersonic missile

Ukrainian analysts have unveiled the classified specs of Russia's shadowy hypersonic cruise missile, the 3M22 Zircon, intercepted by US-made missile defense systems over Kyiv,...