The United States has changed the routes of its drones over the Black Sea after the incident with Russian Su-27s
Now their ability to gather intelligence is limited
The U.S. decision to send its reconnaissance drones further south over the Black Sea after a Russian jet collided with a U.S. drone earlier this month "definitely limits our ability to gather intelligence" related to the war in Ukraine, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.
Flying drones over long distances reduces the quality of intelligence they can gather, the official explained, noting that spy satellites can compensate to some extent, but have less time over targets. Therefore, their effectiveness compared to reconnaissance drones has decreased.
The drones are now deployed further away from the Crimean peninsula and the eastern Black Sea. According to the new routes, flights will be conducted at a distance of more than 75 km from the coast of Ukraine, rather than the 22 km that are usually considered the borders of the country's airspace.
The new routes were designed to "prevent provocations" as President Joe Biden's administration continues to carefully avoid any incidents that could escalate into a direct conflict with Russia.
The official added that for now, drone flights will continue on alternative trajectories, but in the future, the United States expects to return to routes that pass closer to Russian-controlled territory.
A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea on March 14, after which the drone crashed into international waters. Washington claimed that the plane had made a "dangerous and unprofessional interception" and damaged the drone's propeller, before dumping fuel on it.
The downing of the drone was the first time that Russian and U.S. military aircraft have had direct physical contact since Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Background. As a reminder, the United States has published a video of a Russian Su-27 downing an American drone.
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