Can We Stop Playing Make Believe? Where Are the Adults When It Comes to Ukraine? There are still a number of unanswered questions about the incident that downed the MQ9 Predator off the coast of Crimea on Tuesday.
Let us start with the facts:
The MQ9 drone was conducting an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission in international air space off the coast of Crimea. The MQ9 turned off its Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) transponder. Russian air defense systems were tracking the drone. Russian jet fighters were scrambled to intercept the drone. The United States and NATO have been flying drones along the Crimea coast for more than a year. The drone was brought down without a shot being fired by the Russian combat jet fighters.
We are in full blown Kabuki theater. The United States insists this drone was harmless, just minding its own business, when an incompetent Russian pilot failed to control his plane. Russia insists there was no contact with the drone and claimed the drone turned sharply and fell from the sky.
If you look closely at the picture of the MQ9 Reaper above you will see that it is almost impossible for a Russian jet to just “hit” the propeller without causing other damage to the drone. That kind of impact would have caused the drone to start tumbling, probably end over end.
