WASHINGTON - The United States has resumed surveillance drone flights over
the Black Sea region following a Russian fighter jet intercept on Tuesday
that led to the downing of a U.S surveillance drone, two U.S. officials
said on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-resumes-drone-flights-over-black-sea-after-russia-intercept-2023-03-17/

An RQ-4 Global Hawk flew a mission to the region on Friday, the officials
said, with one adding that it was the first such drone flight since the
Tuesday incident. Pentagon officials have repeatedly stressed this week
the incident would not stop Washington from flying such missions.

Still, the downing of a U.S. MQ-9 drone on Tuesday was the first direct
U.S.-Russian incident since the Ukraine war began, worsening already tense
relations between Washington and Moscow as both countries publicly traded
blame.

The incident over international waters was a reminder of the risk of
direct confrontation between the United States and Russia over Ukraine,
which Moscow invaded more than a year ago and which Western allies have
supported with intelligence and weapons.

### - regardless of the various arguments/debates now surrounding whether
these US drones should even be flying near the war zone or not etc, etc...
the question remains of what happens NOW if/when russia downs 'another'
one under perhaps similar circumstances?

wont the US react the next time??

they mentioned maybe sending manned jets in future to accompany such
drones (as the brits subsequently did when one of their hi-tech manned
surveillance craft was buzzed and a missile fired in its vicinity that
time) in which case it's even more risky should those jets then start
shooting at each other in international airspace...

e.g., russia goes after another drone but this time is intercepted by a
couple of US jets, a lot of mutual buzzings and threats takes place in the
air, someone however goes too far (or too close) and one or more of the 4
jets involved goes down...

what happens THEN huh???

lol the americans would go ape if it happened to their planes, as would
russia likely too!?

the US claiming they have the right to fly drones there if they want and
as such will continue doing so regardless, being obviously care-less of
the outcome, or, is maybe even depending on it, who knows!

no doubt we'll thus get to see exactly what happens, it just being a
matter of when...