A Russian Sukhoi Su-27 Fighter Jet collided with a United States MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, the Pentagon, US Department of Defence, said.

The UAV, according to the Pentagon, crashed in the Black Sea. The incident comes against the backdrop of the increased tensions between the United States and Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Yesterday a video was released where the Su-27 is reportedly flying close to the American spy drone.

The Russian Su-27 fighter jet in the video appears to be flying in very close proximity to the American MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Today, another video was released by the Untied States European Command, showing a Russian Su-27 flying very close to the UAV and making aggressive manoeuvres.

The Indian Armed Forces are also looking to buy MQ-9 Reaper UAVs from the United States.

Various reports indicate that India could buy 18 of these drones, six each for the Navy, Army and the Air Force.

The MQ-9 Reaper is designed and developed by General Atomics and has an endurance of over 27 hours, can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a payload capacity of 1,746 kg.

“The aircraft also can carry a wide variety of specialist payloads if they must adapt to a specific mission.

A SkyGuardian becomes a SeaGuardian, for example, when it carries a 360-degree maritime search radar that gives users a quality of maritime domain awareness they can’t achieve any other way,” Vivek Lal, Chief Executive of General Atomics said.

“Other payloads include communications relays — so the aircraft can serve as a node connecting forces over land or sea — or other intelligence, surveillance or military systems,” Lal further said.

“These aircraft can conduct search and rescue, help fight wildfires, support customs authorities, augment naval forces and take many other tasks,” Lal added.