Russian jet's collision with a US drone shows Russia may have a fighter pilot 'problem,' former US aviators say

• A Russian fighter jet collided with an American drone this week after harassing it.
• The drone crashed, and the Russian aircraft was damaged.

A Russian fighter aircraft ran into a US Reaper drone over the Black Sea this week after executing a series of "reckless" maneuvers around the aircraft, and it may be a sign Russia "has a problem with its fighter pilots," two former US Navy aviators told Insider.

A pair of Russian Su-27 fighters carried out what the US military called an "unsafe and unprofessional" intercept of a US MQ-9 drone on Tuesday, flying in front of the unmanned aircraft and dumping fuel on it before one of the Russian jets clipped the drone's propeller, causing a "crash and complete loss" of the US aircraft.

The US military said that the Russian jet was damaged in the incident, but Russia has denied that its plane ever made contact with the US drone. The military released a video of the incident on Thursday, clearly showing damage to the drone as it operated in international airspace.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said there's "no question" the harassment was intentional, but it is unclear if the collision was. A State Department official said it "probably was the result of profound incompetence on the part of one of these Russian pilots."

One of the aviators who spoke to Insider called the move a "weird" maneuver that the Russian flier failed to pull off.

'Egg on the face for Russia'

Former Navy pilot and host of the Fighter Pilot Podcast Vincent "Jell-O" Aiello said the engagement was "extremely reckless as well as illegal," adding that either the collision was intentional and "America has a problem with Russia" or "Russia has a problem with its fighter pilots," who he said may have been flat-hatting or showboating.

Either way, the "close proximity, dumping fuel, and approaching and overtaking from the rear" the way the fighter did in the video released by the US military is dangerous, he said.

Another former naval aviator and TOPGUN instructor, Guy "Bus" Snodgrass agreed that if the collision was unintentional, it looks bad for Russia.

"This is just egg on the face for Russia," he said. "There's no doubt about it."

"For years, especially during my two decades of military service as a fighter pilot, we always kind of thought Russia was a little bit of a ten-foot-tall giant," Snodgrass told Insider. Russian military failures in Ukraine have altered this view, he continued, "and now, you've got something like this."

"We've known they were unprofessional," he said, as Russia has conducted many unsafe intercepts over the years, but "it's like their training is bad."

He said the collision with the US drone, assuming it was an accident, "demonstrates how poorly trained" the Su-27 pilots are and highlights the "poor decision making."

A report from the Royal United Services Institute's Justin Bronk noted last year that Russian fighter pilots receive less training than their Western counterparts with far fewer flight hours overall.

And the war in Ukraine may result in further deficiencies, the London-based think tank said in a separate report. RUSI pointed out last fall that not only does Russia lack well-trained pilots, but it has committed its instructor pilots to the fight, which has "hampered the ability to generate new pilots."

It's unclear what kind of pilot was flying Tuesday, but US European Command's statement on the incident involving the Russian Su-27s and the American MQ-9 Reaper said it demonstrated "a lack of competence" on the part of the Russians.

"The maneuver that the pilot used was reckless and just ill-informed," Snodgrass said. "I can't fathom anybody I've ever flown with taking an approach like that."

"They're doing this weird maneuver where it's almost like they are trying to fly right at it and at the last second pull up so that their fuel will splash on the drone," he said, adding that "it just highlights they're unprofessional and their lack of capability, lack of ability as pilots."

"It was a bad decision to do it that way," the former pilot said, noting there were other ways to go about it that would have been far less risky. "And then, obviously, the act of actually pulling it off was horrendous."

'An aggressive maneuver by the Russians to force a reaction'

Tuesday's incident raises questions about US operations in challenging environments.

Russian jets routinely conduct unsafe intercepts of American aircraft, but the collision this week calls into focus the risks, especially in situations where the aircraft are all manned, such as when Russian planes have harassed US maritime surveillance aircraft.

"The tactical portion here is that poor training or poor decision making by a Russian pilot caused a collision," Snodgrass said. "The strategic implications here is that it was an aggressive maneuver by the Russians to force a reaction."

Aiello suggested that perhaps the US should consider "whether it is worth flying in those areas" or consider flying "with self-defense weapons or escorts," though Snodgrass suggested it would be undesirable to give way to Russia or escalate, arguing the US should continue to operate as it has.

The US secretary of defense signaled its not the US that needs to change, but Russia, though that may prove a challenge.

"Make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the crash this week, adding that "it is incumbent upon Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner."