Beltway Confidential

Why did Russia bring down the Reaper drone?

By Jon Sweet, Mark Toth
Published March 17, 2023 7:03pm ET
Add Washington Examiner on Google
Why did Russia bring down the Reaper drone?
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, NV - AUGUST 08: An MQ-9 Reaper flies by on a training mission August 8, 2007 at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada. The Reaper is the Air Force's first "hunter-killer" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and is designed to engage time-sensitive targets on the battlefield as well as provide intelligence and surveillance. The jet-fighter sized Reapers are 36 feet long with 66-foot wingspans and can fly for as long as 14 hours fully loaded with laser-guided bombs and air-to-ground missiles. They can fly twice as fast and high as the smaller MQ-1 Predators reaching speeds of 300 mph at an altitude of up to 50,000 feet. The aircraft are flown by a pilot and a sensor operator from ground control stations. The Reapers are expected to be used in combat operations by the United States military in Afghanistan and Iraq within the next year. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | Ethan Miller

Russia‘s downing of a U.S. Air Force Reaper MQ-9 surveillance drone over the Black Sea this week has become a new inflection point in the war in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has presented the pilots involved with awards. Belying video evidence which showed a Russian pilot flew into the drone, he blamed a mix of U.S. arrogance and error for the vehicle’s loss. Regardless, far too much attention is being given to the actual event itself and not enough as to why Russia did what it did.

Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.

Tag:

Drones Russia Russia-Ukraine War