Kirby calls Russian pilot who hit US drone an 'fool'

White Home nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby referred to as the pilot who downed a U.S. drone final week "an fool" on Wednesday. The remark comes after Russia rewarded the pilot for downing the drone.

Kirby, who was an admiral within the Navy, referred to as the award "insulting" and "ludicrous." He stated the nation should have a "totally different definition" of bravery.

US DRONE HIT BY RUSSIAN PILOT 'SANK TO AN UNRECOVERABLE DEPTH'

“I don’t know of one other navy on the planet, one other air drive on the planet that will award a pilot for smashing right into a drone. If that’s bravery, then I assume they’ve obtained a unique definition of it. It is ludicrous. It is insulting,” Kirby stated Wednesday.

“Within the Navy I grew up in, you don’t need to hit something. Hitting something’s dangerous for you. I've no clue why they might give a bravery award to a pilot who was, at worst, maliciously placing himself and U.S. property at nice danger and, at greatest, simply an fool."

Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu awarded the pilots the Orders of Braveness award on Wednesday.

The award announcement comes after U.S. officers introduced that a Russian fighter jet struck a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone final week. The jet broken the drone's propeller and brought about it to crash into the Black Sea.

The drone is just not thought-about recoverable as a result of it sank too deep, in line with an Air Pressure spokesperson. Nevertheless, all delicate knowledge from the drone, together with U.S. intelligence, have been wiped.

Russia touted the strike, saying it prevented a U.S. plane from flying into Russian airspace. U.S. officers have maintained that the unmanned drone was flying in worldwide airspace and fell into worldwide waters.

The Pentagon launched footage of the crash final week taken by a digital camera on the U.S. plane.

Within the video, a Russian Su-27 approached the rear of the drone and started to launch gasoline because it handed. On the second move, because the Russian jet rapidly approached, the video feed reduce out for about 60 seconds following affect. When the digital camera resumed its video feed, the propeller gave the impression to be broken.

Kirby stated whereas the USA could by no means know what the intent of the pilots was, the incident was “intentional harassment” and “deliberately aggressive.”

Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin stated the transfer was simply the newest in a collection of dangerous actions by Russia, nevertheless it was the primary time a Russian pilot had crashed right into a U.S. drone.