US drone downed by Russia latest in pattern of Moscow hostile 'signaling'

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday said the U.S. will not stop flights in international airspace after a Russian fighter jet clipped a U.S. drone propeller, causing a crash into the Black Sea. The U.S. said on Tuesday two Russian SU-27 warplanes harassed and struck down an unmanned U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over international waters, forcing it to crash into the Black Sea in what could be described as "coercive signaling." If a Russia warplane is found to have purposefully downed the sophisticated $32 million intelligence collecting drone, it will be the first time the U.S. and Russia have directly exchanged blows since the war in Ukraine began. Though Moscow has denied downing the drone and claimed it crashed on its own, one report by the RAND Corporation released last year suggests this could align with Russia's known use of coercive tactics. An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft is parked in a hanger at Creech Air Force Base on Nov. 17, 2015 in Indian Springs, Nevada.