A U.S. Air Force drone was taken down after being hit by a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea on Tuesday.
Military officials say the MQ-9 Reaper drone was conducting routine operations when it was intercepted by two Russian fighters over international waters.
One of the Russian jets clipped the drone's propeller and dumped fuel on the aircraft, forcing U.S. officials to bring it down, crashing into the water.
The Air Force called the stunt an "unsafe and unprofessional act" that "nearly caused both aircraft to crash."
"Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on, and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner," General James Hecker said in a statement. "This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional."
Hecker said the incident "follows a pattern of dangerous actions" by Russian pilots while interacting with U.S. and allied aircraft over international airspace.
"These aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation," he added.
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder briefed the media regarding the incident, saying it most likely caused damage to the Russian aircraft, although it was able to land.
Ryder said the incident will not stop the U.S. from carrying out future missions in international airspace, which are used in order to bolster collective European defense and security in support of allied partners, along with national objectives.
"These aircraft have been flying over the Black Sea region for some time, to include before the current conflict started. It is an important and busy international waterway. And so, it is not an uncommon mission for us to be flying in international airspace," he said.
Ryder added that the "key point" is while aircraft intercepts are not that uncommon, this incident stands out because of the "type of behavior from these Russian pilots, that is uncommon and unfortunate and unsafe." He said the Russian jets were flying around the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before the collision caused it to crash.
"The vast majority of those intercepts are what we would consider safe and professional. Just wanting to see what's there, right? You're flying alongside it to -- to be able to see what's there," he said. "What we saw, again, were fighter aircraft dumping fuel in front of this [unmanned aerial vehicle] and then getting so close to the aircraft that it actually damaged the propeller on the MQ-9... It just demonstrative of a very unprofessional, unsafe airmanship on the part of these pilots."
"We call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely," he added.
Ryder didn't provide details on any plans to recover the MQ-9, but said officials are continuing to assess the situation.
"To my knowledge at this point in time, the Russians have not recovered that aircraft, but again, in terms of our recovery efforts, don't have any updates to provide right now," he said.
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