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Russian warplanes intercept U.S. military drone over Black Sea

It marks the first direct contact between the Russian and United States Air Forces since the Cold War.

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An American military drone was intercepted by a Russian warplane in international airspace over the Black Sea on March 14.(Photo by USAF via SWNS)

By Dean Murray via SWNS

Incredible scenes show an American military drone being buzzed by Russian warplanes.

U.S. European Command released footage on March 16 of Russian Su-27 aircraft conducting what they call "an unsafe/unprofessional" intercept of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 in international airspace over the Black Sea.

In addition to the footage from March 14, a storyboard of the events with declassified stills from the MQ-9 footage is also released.

An MQ-9 Reaper. (Photo by USAF via SWNS)

The event saw Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercept and damage an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing it to crash into the Black Sea.

It marks the first direct contact between the Russian and United States Air Forces since the Cold War.

The Reaper had taken off from a base in Romania, likely the Romanian Air Force 71st Air Base from Câmpia Turzii.

The drone was to carry out a scheduled reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea when it was intercepted by the Russian jets.

United States European Command said that one of the aircraft flew in front of the drone and dumped fuel on top of it.

Then one of the planes damaged the drone's propeller, forcing it to ditch in the Black Sea.

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