A day after a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone had to be downed after a Russian fighter jet clipped its propeller, the race to retrieve the remains of the UAV has begun.
While Russia has confirmed that it would try to retrieve the remnants of a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea, US officials have already cited how it was unsure of recovering the remains.
Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev told BBC on Wednesday that Moscow was attempting to find the aircraft. "I don't know whether we'll be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done," Patrushev said. He added that the drone's presence in the Black Sea was "confirmation" that the US was directly involved in the war.
Russia has an edge when it comes to recovering the drone remains, considering the location of the crash, which is off the west coast of Crimea. Russia has a strong naval presence and airfields in Crimea. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, too claimed that Russia had the technological capability to recover the debris from the seabed.
As for the US, its top officials have already stated how challenging the task would be for it to recover the remains of the UAV. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said remains of the UAV lie in waters as deep as 1,219 to 1,524 meters. "It probably sank to some significant depths, so any recovery operation from a technical standpoint would be very difficult," Milley told reporters on Wednesday. He added it would take several days before the US would know for certain the size of the debris field.
National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby too reiterated that he was not sure of recovering the drone. However, the US claims that it has taken steps to "protect our equities" and has erased sensitive software on the drone before downing it so that Russia cannot glean valuable technology from the drone. "We’re quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value," Milley said.
Russian ships are reportedly already in the vicinity of the crash site, while the US currently has no ships in the Black Sea. In the context of the war, any bid by the US ships to recover the drone in the waters where Russian ships and submarines patrol constantly pose a greater risk. However, according to Milley, the US had a lot of allies and friends in the area.
"We will work through recovery operations. That’s US property. But it probably broke up. There’s probably not a lot to recover, frankly," he said. "As far as the loss of any sensitive intelligence … we did take mitigating measures. So we are quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value."
US- Russia talks
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin had talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in connection with the incident on Wednesday.
Though Austin continued to provide details of the call to reporters, he reiterated that the U.S. "intended to continue flying where international law allowed." He also demanded that the Russian military aircraft operate in a safe and professional manner.
However, Shoigu reportedly told the Pentagon chief that Washington's "increased" intelligence gathering against Russia had led to a drone incident. According to a statement by the Russian Defence Ministry, Russia "had no interest in such a development but will in future react in due proportion" and the two countries should "act with a maximum of responsibility", including by having military lines of communication in a crisis.
