The US military has accused Russia of reckless behaviour, after a Russian Su27 fighter jet struck down a US military Reaper surveillance drone over the Black Sea.

The US said that the drone was conducting a routine operation in international airspace when the Russian jets intercepted it. Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that "because of the damage [caused by the Russian jet], we were in a position to have to essentially crash into the Black Sea".

Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that its fighter jets did not come into contact with the US drone, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to sharp manoeuvring.

The US European Command said that the incident followed a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with US and allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea. The US Air Force General James Hecker said in a statement that the "unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash".

The US State Department has said it will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts and expressing their concerns over this "unsafe and unprofessional intercept".

The Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told Channel Nine that the US was entitled to fly the drone there, and that "what Russia has done is not professional and has led to the downing of this drone".

The White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that US President Joe Biden was briefed about the incident and that the State Department would reach out and make US concerns over the drone known to Russian officials.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concerns about US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The Kremlin has charged that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the US and its allies have effectively become engaged in its conflict with Ukraine despite neither US or NATO military personnel being on the ground in the war zone.

John Kirby emphasised that the incident would not deter the US from continuing its missions in the area. He said that "if the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying and operating in international airspace over the Black Sea then that message will fail". He went on to say that "we're going to continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters, the Black Sea belongs to no one nation".

The incident appears to be the first time since the height of the Cold War that a US aircraft has been brought down by a Russian warplane.

The US and its allies are concerned about the increasing tensions between Russia and the US, and the potential for further miscalculations or unintended escalations of conflict.

The international community is urging both sides to remain calm and act responsibly in order to de-escalate the situation and maintain international peace and security.

Australia is also urging both sides to exercise restraint, with Defence Minister Richard Marles saying that "these sorts of intercepts sometimes happen in international airspace but there is an expectation that militaries will engage with each other in a professional way".

The US will continue to monitor the situation closely, and will continue to conduct surveillance operations in international airspace in order to ensure the security of the region.