DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Will there be efforts made to recover the downed MQ-9 from the Black Sea? Do they have on-board self destructs?

As a Retired Air Force 30+ year Veteran, it's important for the public and hence the whole world to know what the US military is doing, clandestinely or out in the open… NOT!!!

As a result of the current Russo-Ukrainian War, Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait and the U.S. is not allowed to send warships into the Black Sea.

If you've checked the maps of the various countries that surround the Black Sea, you might very well imagine that many, if not all will be interested in finding that drone. Some might even be doing it for the United States as a favor…

But your inquiry reminds me of the Democratic Kentucky Congressman, Andrew Jackson May, who was Chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee in May 1943 when he was privy to a TOP SECRET Meeting where it was disclosed that U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II.

That they frequently escaped the anti-submarine depth charge attacks. May revealed the deficiencies of Japanese depth-charge tactics in a press conference held in June 1943. At this press conference, he revealed the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survival rate because Japanese depth charges were exploding at too shallow a depth. After releasing this information, the Japanese started setting their Depth Charges to a deeper depth.

The Navy and the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, estimated that May's security breach cost the United States Navy as many as 10 submarines and 800 crewmen killed in action. He said, "I hear Congressman May said the Jap depth charges are not set deep enough.

Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, said, "May would be pleased to know that the Japs set their depth charges deeper now."

Ultimately Congressman May was also guilty of War Profiteering and was sentenced to Federal Prison.

So, I say to you, it's none of your business! Even if you say, "Inquiring Minds Want to Know…", it doesn't not mean they deserve to know…
 
only if they get there first, a race against time
That's what I was thinking and also why I wondered if it is likely to have been equiped with a self destruct. Better to destroy it than if fall into the wrong hands.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: LoudThunder
The russian Jet hit the prop on the drone. At those air speeds there might have been some fairly immediate damage or destruction on both aircraft.

Seems like if it was carrying a sidewinder missile or two it would have the means to self destruct. The articles I have read said it went down pretty hard ie crashed.

Still I am sure there is a lot of interest in recovery by us and others.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: LoudThunder
Anyone seen the crash video, I wonder if I could get one of those cameras for the Mavic Mini?
Quite stunning image quality!
That video is interesting. It looks like the fuel is coming out of the engines to me. So did the Russian pilot have to kill his engines to drop the fuel and then he was trying to restart them to burn the drone. I am sure the pilot didn't try to hit the drone intentionally that is potential suicide. But if his engine restart burnout failed he would lose maneuverability fast. Instead of burning the drone in the fuel air mixture he was flying dead stick and losing altitude and controllability fast. I am calling FUBAR on that one. That Mig was lucky to make it back and land.
 
As a Retired Air Force 30+ year Veteran, it's important for the public and hence the whole world to know what the US military is doing, clandestinely or out in the open… NOT!!!

As a result of the current Russo-Ukrainian War, Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait and the U.S. is not allowed to send warships into the Black Sea.

If you've checked the maps of the various countries that surround the Black Sea, you might very well imagine that many, if not all will be interested in finding that drone. Some might even be doing it for the United States as a favor…

But your inquiry reminds me of the Democratic Kentucky Congressman, Andrew Jackson May, who was Chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee in May 1943 when he was privy to a TOP SECRET Meeting where it was disclosed that U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II.

That they frequently escaped the anti-submarine depth charge attacks. May revealed the deficiencies of Japanese depth-charge tactics in a press conference held in June 1943. At this press conference, he revealed the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survival rate because Japanese depth charges were exploding at too shallow a depth. After releasing this information, the Japanese started setting their Depth Charges to a deeper depth.

The Navy and the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, estimated that May's security breach cost the United States Navy as many as 10 submarines and 800 crewmen killed in action. He said, "I hear Congressman May said the Jap depth charges are not set deep enough.

Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, said, "May would be pleased to know that the Japs set their depth charges deeper now."

Ultimately Congressman May was also guilty of War Profiteering and was sentenced to Federal Prison.

So, I say to you, it's none of your business! Even if you say, "Inquiring Minds Want to Know…", it doesn't not mean they deserve to know…
Who said they deserved to know? The pentagon released the video and invited the conversation.
 
Who said they deserved to know?
I am not sure what to make of your remark, it seems to agree with me and yet it does not.

My thoughts are simple, the public does not NEED to know if the US is undertaking an effort to recover the drone. The Turkish Government has forbid all warships from countries not ported in the Black Sea to enter the Bosphorus straits which lead to the Black Sea. That means the US cannot send in any recovery ships that are classified a "warship"

Perhaps the US has a "secret" agreement with one of the countries that surround the Black Sea to undertake the recovery and since we do not want our adversaries to know what we are doing, we should not advertise that fact. Remember, it might be a "secret" agreement…

The release of the video was not to invite public opinion on whether the US should recover the drone nor to ask for a meaningless, useless, effete, imbesileic effort to start a "hashtag" campaign such as "#RecoveryTheDrone", like that is going to do any good.

If public opinion could sway the Russian Government in any way or means, the Russians would not still be in the Ukraine…

Does anyone who has an ounce of sense believe a grass root campaign would cause the Russian Government to admit, "My Bad, I'm Sorry…" Especially in light of the Russian Defense Minister awarding Military Decorations to the pilots for "downing" the Drone…


bad.gif
 
It's kind of a moot point where you believe anyone should know if the US government would attempt to recover the drone. The Russians have already started recovery operations. But it may be of little strategic value

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the following in a press conference on Wednesday

“It’s probably about maybe 4,000 or 5,000 feet of water, something like that. So, any recovery operation is very difficult at that depth by anyone,”

“There’s probably not a lot to recover, frankly,” he said. “As far as the loss of anything of sensitive intelligence, et cetera, as normal, we would take – and we did take mitigating measures, so we are quite confident that whatever – whatever was of value is no longer of value.”
Source

[Edited]
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: LoudThunder
I am not sure what to make of your remark, it seems to agree with me and yet it does not.

My thoughts are simple, the public does not NEED to know if the US is undertaking an effort to recover the drone. The Turkish Government has forbid all warships from countries not ported in the Black Sea to enter the Bosphorus straits which lead to the Black Sea. That means the US cannot send in any recovery ships that are classified a "warship"

Perhaps the US has a "secret" agreement with one of the countries that surround the Black Sea to undertake the recovery and since we do not want our adversaries to know what we are doing, we should not advertise that fact. Remember, it might be a "secret" agreement…

The release of the video was not to invite public opinion on whether the US should recover the drone nor to ask for a meaningless, useless, effete, imbesileic effort to start a "hashtag" campaign such as "#RecoveryTheDrone", like that is going to do any good.

If public opinion could sway the Russian Government in any way or means, the Russians would not still be in the Ukraine…

Does anyone who has an ounce of sense believe a grass root campaign would cause the Russian Government to admit, "My Bad, I'm Sorry…" Especially in light of the Russian Defense Minister awarding Military Decorations to the pilots for "downing" the Drone…


View attachment 161690
I don't think the op requires a 'loose lips sink ships' sermon. He's not asking for state secrets. Our own government released the video of the drone being downed. Op just asked if anyone had thoughts on if we'd try to recover the drone. You're the only one talking about hashtag campaigns or putting pressure on the Russian government. I'm not sure why you're trying to shame him for asking a simple question regardless of whether you think he needs to know the answer or not. The situation is already public knowledge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anotherlab
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the following in a press conference on Wednesday
I don't think the op requires a 'loose lips sink ships' sermon. He's not asking for state secrets.
Oh but the OP did ask for state secrets when he titled his posting, "Will there be efforts made to recover the downed MQ-9 from the Black Sea? Do they have on-board self destructs?"

I have earned my right to say if our military's actions do not need to be broadcast around the world. I served in the United States Air Force for more than 30-years and almost all of that time my security clearance level would have put me in the company of the likes of the former U.S. Navy warrant officer John Anthony Walker Jr. who was arrested for selling U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union or Jon Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst who passed on secrets that could have started a war between Israel and Iraq, and more recently; Edward Snowden, who now lives in Russia his disclosures on the US's global surveillance capabilities…

Oh, you can say Gen. Mark Milley said. "It’s probably about maybe 4,000 or 5,000 feet of water, something like that. So, any recovery operation is very difficult at that depth by anyone, and There’s probably not a lot to recover, . . . whatever was of value is no longer of value.”

And I will say that is probably "misinformation" and we (the US) is hoping we can convince them to not to try…

You are about old enough to remember the great Hullabaloo about Howard Hughes' Great mining ship to mine for minerals from the ocean floor. It was even featured in both magazines, Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Science. When in reality, it was actually a CIA project to recover a Russian Nuclear Submarine that sunk, but the Russian had no idea where…

That's called "Mis-Information…"

Many of our members are in the military or have also served in the military and I for one did not want anyone to know what I was doing, when I was doing it, or where I was doing it…

Turkey may be an Allie, but it is a fickled one, that is not going to be forced into any particular action. As already stated, Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait and the U.S. is not allowed to send warships into the Black Sea. So there can be no overt recovery effort.

Since this action has been taken, it is very possible that out military has service members in place around the Black Sea to protect our vital interests. And that fact would be a secret. And it is possible that those service members are working with other governments that do have access to the Black Sea and are working to recover the drone and we just do not want the Russians to try too hard.

You see, we know the exact location (Latitude and Longitude) of the crash as our telemetry was working perfectly fight up to the moment of impact and the Russians know generally where it went down ("in the water…").

As proof of the value of the recoverable items, remember that horrific explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was traveling at almost Mach 2 (1,600 MPH) and at an altitude of 8-miles up when it exploded and it debris fell over hundreds of square miles in almost 1,000-feet of water. Over 75% of the shuttle was recovered. And we determined exactly what caused the explosion, and how to prevent it in the future and whole lot more concerning the astronauts on board.

And finally, TWA Flight 800, that broke up over the Atlantic off Long Island in 1996, so much of that aircraft was recovered that it was determined the crash’s cause was an electrical failure that ignited in a nearly empty center wing fuel tank.

So, no matter what who says what; Nothing is of No Value…
 
Oh but the OP did ask for state secrets when he titled his posting, "Will there be efforts made to recover the downed MQ-9 from the Black Sea? Do they have on-board self destructs?"

I have earned my right to say if our military's actions do not need to be broadcast around the world. I served in the United States Air Force for more than 30-years and almost all of that time my security clearance level would have put me in the company of the likes of the former U.S. Navy warrant officer John Anthony Walker Jr. who was arrested for selling U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union or Jon Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst who passed on secrets that could have started a war between Israel and Iraq, and more recently; Edward Snowden, who now lives in Russia his disclosures on the US's global surveillance capabilities…

Oh, you can say Gen. Mark Milley said. "It’s probably about maybe 4,000 or 5,000 feet of water, something like that. So, any recovery operation is very difficult at that depth by anyone, and There’s probably not a lot to recover, . . . whatever was of value is no longer of value.”

And I will say that is probably "misinformation" and we (the US) is hoping we can convince them to not to try…

You are about old enough to remember the great Hullabaloo about Howard Hughes' Great mining ship to mine for minerals from the ocean floor. It was even featured in both magazines, Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Science. When in reality, it was actually a CIA project to recover a Russian Nuclear Submarine that sunk, but the Russian had no idea where…

That's called "Mis-Information…"

Many of our members are in the military or have also served in the military and I for one did not want anyone to know what I was doing, when I was doing it, or where I was doing it…

Turkey may be an Allie, but it is a fickled one, that is not going to be forced into any particular action. As already stated, Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait and the U.S. is not allowed to send warships into the Black Sea. So there can be no overt recovery effort.

Since this action has been taken, it is very possible that out military has service members in place around the Black Sea to protect our vital interests. And that fact would be a secret. And it is possible that those service members are working with other governments that do have access to the Black Sea and are working to recover the drone and we just do not want the Russians to try too hard.

You see, we know the exact location (Latitude and Longitude) of the crash as our telemetry was working perfectly fight up to the moment of impact and the Russians know generally where it went down ("in the water…").

As proof of the value of the recoverable items, remember that horrific explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was traveling at almost Mach 2 (1,600 MPH) and at an altitude of 8-miles up when it exploded and it debris fell over hundreds of square miles in almost 1,000-feet of water. Over 75% of the shuttle was recovered. And we determined exactly what caused the explosion, and how to prevent it in the future and whole lot more concerning the astronauts on board.

And finally, TWA Flight 800, that broke up over the Atlantic off Long Island in 1996, so much of that aircraft was recovered that it was determined the crash’s cause was an electrical failure that ignited in a nearly empty center wing fuel tank.

So, no matter what who says what; Nothing is of No Value…
Yeah we disagree that recovering a downed drone is a state secret. Thanks for your service but you're not the only person in the conversation who's been in the military or held a high end clearance. Either way, it seems the conversation is done.
 
It's kind of a moot point where you believe anyone should know if the US government would attempt to recover the drone. The Russians have already started recovery operations. But it may be of little strategic value

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the following in a press conference on Wednesday


Source

[Edited]
Recovery is difficult but lets all remember the recovery of part of a Soviet sub by the Glomar Explorer. Glomar Explorer - Wikipedia
 
  • Wow
Reactions: LoudThunder
Recovery is difficult but lets all remember the recovery of part of a Soviet sub by the Glomar Explorer. Glomar Explorer - Wikipedia
That's an apples-to-oranges comparison. The K-129 was more or less intact when the US attempted to recover it. It broke apart during the retrieval, but that was a technical error from the retrieval system.

The predator most likely broke apart when it hit the water. One can infer from official statements, that some level of mitigation was performed to prevent some amount of sensitive information from being recoverable.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: LoudThunder
The predator most likely broke apart when it hit the water. One can infer from official statements, that some level of mitigation was performed to prevent some amount of sensitive information from being recoverable.
Depending on your level of confidence, that inference could range anywhere from an “Oh, crap” to something useful like a complete destruction of the aircraft.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LoudThunder
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,584
Messages
1,554,092
Members
159,586
Latest member
maniac2000