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(CNN) The US is flying surveillance drones further south into the Black Sea after a Russian jet collided with a US drone last week, according to two US officials.
Drone flights remain in international airspace, but since one of the Russian jets collided with an MQ-9 Reaper drone last Tuesday, the United States has banned drone flights over Crimea and the Black East. Moved away from surrounding airspace. Ocean.
One official said the route was part of an effort to “not be too provocative”.
The official said drone flights would continue in this manner “for the time being” but added that there was already a “desire” to return to routes closer to Russian-controlled territory. Officials also said Russia could unilaterally try to declare a broader shutdown of southern and eastern Ukraine’s airspace to force U.S. drone flights.
On Tuesday, private flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 showed that a US RQ-4 Global Hawk remained in the southern and southwestern Black Sea at an altitude of about 52,000 feet.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. General Pat Ryder said on Tuesday that the United States continues to operate drones in the Black Sea “in international airspace in accordance with international law.” However, he declined to say whether the United States changed routes or mission profiles after an encounter last week between a U.S. spy drone and two Russian fighter jets.
“For operational safety reasons, we will not go into details such as routes, missions, timelines,” Ryder said at a press conference.
Last week, two Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jets harassed US MQ-9 Reaper drones operating in international airspace over the Black Sea. One of his jets then hits a surveillance drone, causing it to crash with its propeller damaged.
After the incident, CNN reported that the US conducted an assessment of drone flights over the Black Sea, including potential routes, altitudes and risks. The purpose of the assessment was to assess information gathered from the mission against the risk of escalation with Russia.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after the incident that the United States “will continue to fly and operate as long as international law allows.” Even as the U.S. made its assessment, another of his MQ-9 Reaper drones flew over the Black Sea over roughly the same area as the crashed flight to investigate the crash site, officials said.
A few days later, according to FlightRadar24, a US RQ-4 Global Hawk flew over the southern part of the Black Sea and entered the eastern part of the waterway near Russian territory.
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