![]() ![]() If Russia then shot down another drone, the U.S. response to Russia's action would have been to warn against future shootdowns and maintain the drone flights on their existing flight paths. operations in relation to the Taiwan Strait and the near entirety of the South China Sea, which China illegitimately claims as its own." Doing so would undercut the central contention of U.S. military operations in international airspace. intelligence-gathering interests.Īs I noted when the drone was first shot down, "the Biden administration cannot allow Russia to hold either a perceived or effective veto over U.S. has allowed Russia to score a tactical success by virtue of its aggression in international airspace. Binoculars are still useful, for example, but less useful at greater distances. is weakening its means of gathering intelligence. By moving the drones further south over the Black Sea, the U.S. The collection utility of those systems is dependable on their physical proximity to a target. The Reaper drone's intelligence collection effort centers on radar and imagery systems. intelligence collection efforts.ĬHINA SIDESTEPS PUTIN'S BELARUSSIAN NUCLEAR MOVE, PROVING ITS FALSE RED LINE ![]() Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin suggested that the redeployment south was not prohibitive to U.S. official told CNN that this shift is in order "to avoid being too provocative." Under questioning from Sen. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden has responded with unequivocal weakness to this aggression.Īs CNN has reported, the United States has been flying drones further south since the March 14 incident. ![]() On the contrary, Moscow awarded medals to the pilots involved. Russia had no legitimate excuse for downing the drone and offered no apology for doing so. That drone cost American taxpayers roughly $ 18 million to $ 32 million and was deployed in international airspace to monitor Russian forces occupying Ukraine. Reaper MQ-9 drone operating over the Black Sea, destroying it. On March 14, a Russian fighter jet crashed into a U.S. ![]()
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