Russian Jet Collision Deterred US From Flying Drones Over Northern Black Sea - Reports

Russian Jet Collision Deterred US From Flying Drones Over Northern Black Sea - Reports

The US military are suffering a significant loss of intelligence on developments in the Ukraine war since they restricted drones from flying over the northern half of the Black Sea to avoid any more collisions with Russian aircraft, CNN reported on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2023) The US military are suffering a significant loss of intelligence on developments in the Ukraine war since they restricted drones from flying over the northern half of the Black Sea to avoid any more collisions with Russian aircraft, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The restriction was imposed after a Russian fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone on March 14. Now the UAVs fly 40 nautical miles out from the coast rather than approaching as close as 12 nautical miles as they did before and the change has limited US capabilities to collect intelligence on the ongoing conflict, now more than a year old, according to the report.

Satellite reconnaissance cannot fill the gap because in low earth orbit (LEO) they only have short periods of time over battle zones and are hundreds of miles higher than where surveillance UAVs can operate, the report said.

While American UAVs still operate in the area, they now fly at greater altitudes over the Black Sea and further south from Ukraine and Crimea, the network said.

Biden administration senior officials ordered the change in tactics to avoid being too provocative and to avert any direct clash with Russian forces in the area, it said. The US Navy has not sailed into the Black Sea since December 2021, the report added.