Russian Su-27 Confronts US Air Force Global Hawk Drone Over Black Sea

By Mark Episkopos, Managing Editor, Center for Military Modernization

The Russian military says it scrambled a fighter jet against a US RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance drone in the Black Sea region, underlining the continued escalatory dangers of the Ukraine War even as the US finds itself facing down a new crisis in the Middle East.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian radar systems detected the Global Hawk approaching “the Russian state border over the Black Sea” on Sunday. “The crew of the Russian fighter jet identified the aerial target as an RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance drone of the US Air Force,” the Defense Ministry said. A Su-27 jet fighter was reportedly deployed to stop the US drone from entering Russian airspace. “As the Russian fighter jet approached, the foreign surveillance UAV turned away from the Russian state border. The Russian aircraft returned safely to its home airfield. A violation of the Russian state border was averted,” Russia’s Defense Ministry added.

It is unclear where exactly the incident, which has so far not been corroborated by outside sources, took place. The United States, along with the overwhelming majority of the international community, does not recognize Crimean Peninsula– annexed by Moscow in 2014– as part of Russia. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced in February 2022, Ukrainian forces have received valuable targeting information on Russian assets in Crimea from US drones operating in the Black Sea region. A Russian Su-27 fighter brought down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone in March in the Black Sea region by flying in front of its and dumping fuel on the drone several times in what Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, described as an “unsafe and unprofessional act.” The incident was an attempt by Moscow to send a signal that it will not tolerate the presence of US surveillance drones off the Crimean coast. “We have warned not to enter, not to penetrate,” said Russia’s Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov, adding that the region was identified by Russia as a zone for its “special military operation,” the Kremlin’s preferred nomenclature for its invasion of Ukraine. Sunday’s incident, though not nearly as dramatic in its repercussions, appears to be part of Russia’s efforts to deter the operation of US drones off the Crimean coast. Today’s episode follows a similar instance in August when two Russian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two US drones flying near the Crimea peninsula.

It is difficult to conclusively assess how successful these ongoing Russian efforts to deter US drone activity have been. Ukrainian drone and missile strikes against Russian assets and infrastructure in Crimea have not relented over the past year, but it is unclear to what extent Ukraine has continued to receive targeting information from US drones operating in the region as opposed to other sources, including human intelligence (HUMINT) provided by Ukrainian partisan groups embedded in Crimea. 

Mark Episkopos is the new Managing Editor of the Center for Military Modernization. Episkopos is a journalist, researcher, and analyst writing on national security and international relations issues. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in history at American University.