Russian Su-27 easily shot down US drone by making turbulent trail - aviation expert Romanenko

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

The aviation expert commented on how a Russian aircraft hit the MQ-9 drone in international airspace over the Black Sea on March 14.

"First, Russians tried to blind the MQ-9 optoelectronic system by dropping aviation fuel, namely gas, on it. This is an emergency system, according to the technical description of the Su-27, gas is dropped from an altitude of about 1000 meters. The drone was flying at an altitude of 7,500 meters. However, what was happening there and how they managed to blind the drone and suppress the radar with a synthesized aperture (the aperture of the optical system - ed.) is not clear," the expert said.

Valeriy Romanenko said that the Russian Su-27 shot down the drone quite easily.

"The flight weight of the MQ-9 after the main part of the fuel is used up is about 3.5 tons. A fighter jet weighs about 30 tons and is much larger than this drone. If the aircraft starts to make any maneuvers along the drone's course, a very powerful wake (air current in the form of vortices that are torn off mainly from the wingtips of the aircraft - ed.) appears behind the airplane. This turbulence turns airplanes upside down, maybe 90 degrees or even 180 degrees. That is, the Su-27 flew over, making a turbulent wake, and the light drone was simply turned over, after which it lost control. If there had been a person on board, he or she would have somehow oriented themselves, but it is more difficult for the ground crew to do so," Romanenko explained.

• On March 14, a Russian Su-27 downed a US drone in international airspace over the Black Sea.

• On March 15, the White House said that the US had taken steps to ensure that the American MQ-9 Reaper drone shot down over the Black Sea did not fall into wrong hands.

• On March 16, NBC News reported that the Russian leadership had approved the aggressive actions of the aircraft that damaged the American drone.