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United States on Tuesday (July 25) claimed that the Russian fighter jets fired flares at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone while flying over Syria.
⚡️The US Air Force Central Command reports that on July 23, in the skies over Syria, a Russian Su-35S fighter aircraft performed "unsafe maneuvers" near an MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike UAV. pic.twitter.com/sgo7mfXXJu
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) July 25, 2023
The incident happened on Sunday (July 25) when it was on a counter-terrorism mission against the Islamic State group, US Air Forces Central said.
"On 23 July, 2023 at 12:23 a.m. (EST) Russian fighter aircraft flew dangerously close to a U.S. MQ-9 drone on a defeat-ISIS mission, harassing the MQ-9 and deploying flares from a position directly overhead, with only a few meters of separation between aircraft," Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said.
The drone’s propeller suffered “serious” damages, the air force said.
“The Sukhoi Su-35 began dropping flares in front of the US drone, severely damaging its propellor, the Air Force said. The drone’s crew was able to control the aircraft and fly it back to its home base,” Grynkewich said in a statement
The US Air Force called upon the Russian forces in Syria “to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behaviour.”
There have been increasingly close encounters between the Russian fighter jets and US drones operating over Syria.
This is the second time this month that US and Russian jets have come in close proximity in the Syrian air.
Last week, a Russian Su-35 fighter endangered the crew of a manned US MC-12 by forcing it to fly through its wake turbulence, according to a release from Air Forces Central.
On July 5, three Russian fighter jets reportedly “harassed” three US drones flying over Syria.
According to the US military, Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of the drones, forcing the operators of the unmanned aircraft to take evasive manoeuvres.
And on July 14, a senior US defence official said another Russian fighter jet flew near an MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria in an unprofessional manner.
The increased confrontation between the countries in the Syrian skies can be attributed to the presence of their militaries in the North African region.
While the US has around 900 troops in eastern Syria fighting against the IS terrorist group, Russia has a military presence in northwestern Syria as part of its mission to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
