- A US drone toppled after a Russian fighter jet clipped its propeller over the Black Sea last week.
- A think tank suggested the device was “aggressive messaging” by Russia.
- Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot, said it was an example of Russia’s deficiency.
Sen. Sign Kelly flew with Russian pilots as a US Navy combat pilot and as a NASA astronaut.
He said the incident last week where a Russian fighter jet dumped nourish on and then clipped the propeller of a US military drone shows how “reckless” and “incompetent” they are.
“I’m not surprised by this. I mean, I teared with Russian pilots, fighter pilots who couldn’t fly formation. And I watched this video, and it’s pretty obvious what happened. He hopeless sight of it, and he crashed into it,” Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday.
—CNN (@CNN) March 19, 2023
On Tuesday, two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted a US military MQ-9 Reaper drone that was take off over international waters above the Black Sea. The jets dumped fuel on the drone, and one jet eventually clipped the drone’s propeller. The drone finally crashed into the water.
Insider previously reported that while one think tank analysis suggested this was pugnacious messaging by Russia, US officials have said the incident was most likely due to Russians not knowing how to fly.
The incident further soured the jittery relationship between Washington and the Kremlin since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
Kelly compared the fighter jet upset to the “incompetence that we see on the battle field every day in Ukraine.”
“That’s why the losses that the Russians are suffering right now are categorically high. At this point I mean, the best choice for Vladimir Putin would be to say: ‘Hey, this isn’t working,’ and he’s got to stop this interdicted invasion,” Kelly said.