Russian aircraft harass US drones over Syria for second day in a row
Mike Brest
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Russian aircraft flew dangerously close to U.S. drones over Syria for the second day in a row.
The latest incident occurred on Thursday, 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, when Russian SU-34 and SU-35 jets dropped flares in the flight path of a U.S. MQ-9 aircraft, according to Alex Grynkewich, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East.
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“Three Russian fighter jets began harassing those drones, using things like parachute flares to drop in front of them, as well as one aircraft engaging its afterburner, clearly meant to harass and clearly unprofessional and unsafe behavior on the part of the Russians,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said at Thursday’s briefing.
The department released a declassified video of the incident, which appears to show a Russian SU-35 positioning itself in front of the U.S. drone and dropping parachute-born flares into its path.
The French military said two of its Rafale fighter jets flying a counter-ISIS flight over eastern Syria had to take evasive maneuvers on Thursday as well.
A day earlier, Russian jets launched parachute flares at drones and flew “dangerously close to the drones,” forcing U.S. pilots to “perform evasive maneuvers,“ Grynkewich added.
“These events represent another example of unprofessional and unsafe actions by Russian air forces operating in Syria, which threaten the safety of both Coalition and Russian forces,” he said. “We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
The U.S. Air Force deployed fighter aircraft to the Middle East in a show of force toward Russia last month.
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“Russian forces’ unsafe and unprofessional behavior is not what we expect from a professional air force. Their regular violation of agreed-upon airspace deconfliction measures increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation,” Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, said at the time. “Alongside our partners and allies, we are committed to improving the security and stability in the region.”
Wednesday and Thursday’s incidents come a couple of months after Russian pilots crashed into a U.S. MQ-9 drone in March, which forced U.S. troops to crash the unmanned aerial vehicle into the Black Sea. The U.S. military was able to wipe the drone of sensitive intelligence before it crash-landed about 75 miles southwest of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.