On Tuesday, March 14, the European NATO Command issued a statement saying that an MQ-9 reconnaissance drone belonging to the United States had been shot down over the Black Sea. What is behind this story?

At first glance, Russia was simply enforcing the no-fly zone established by the operation in Ukraine. The drone had no business being only 60 kilometers from Sevastopol. The details, however, point to other possibilities.

After the announcement that the drone was shot down by a fuel spill from the Su-27 fighter, the first logical question is: “Why wasn’t it shot down by cannons?” Why wasn’t the Khibini system used?” This announcement was followed by the Pentagon’s routine nonsense about the “unsafe and unprofessional” behavior of the Russian pilots, as well as the “Russian fighter jets were bullying the US drone before knocking it out of the sky”… which caused a wave of mockery on the Internet:

But let’s try to answer the questions: “Why was it not taken down by the Khibini system?” One explanation could be as follows: the United States sent a drone equipped with new electronic equipment that was impenetrable to the Khibini system. Because of that, pilots were tasked with downing the drone in a way that makes minimal damage in order to test the modifications in the electronics. That is why the possibility of using cannons or rockets was ruled out, and the method of bringing it down without physical destruction was chosen.

We will see if there is any truth to that, as the Russians have located the wreckage at a depth of about 900 meters and have begun the recovery operation.

The second version, however, is much more likely: the drone did not respond to Khibini system because there were no electronics. The drone was sent on a suicide mission to be shot down. Why? Because it followed the underwater route of the South (Turkish) Stream, the last gas pipeline that goes from Russia to Europe. Immediately afterwards, there was a request to Turkey to let a US warship into the Black Sea to ‘search for the wreckage of the drone’. And Turkey, contrary to the Montreux Convention, gave way. You can imagine, quite accidentally, that ship will be full of equipment for blasting gas pipelines at great depths… for a training purposes, of course.

This would certainly justify the seemingly improper and completely silly statements of Pentagon officials – fake it silly till you make it!

If you want to know which version is correct, observe the fate of South Stream