U.S. Claims Its Drones Were Harassed Again Over Syria, Russia Warns Of…
A MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson)
The United States Air Force has accused the Russian military of harassing its drones over Syria for the second time in two days.
Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich, the U.S. commander responsible for air operations in the Middle East, said that on July 6 a MQ-9 combat drone was conducting a mission against ISIS targets in northwestern Syria when Russian fighter jets approached.
One of the Russian jets then began dropping flares in front of the American drone in an apparent attempt to hit the drone, forcing it to take evasive maneuvers, the commander claimed.
Meanwhile, Colonel Michael Andrews, a spokesman for Air Force Central Command, said the two Russian fighters, an Su-34 and Su-35, engaged for almost an hour in a “sustained” and “unprofessional” interaction.
Video of the encounter released by the command shows two Russian fighters flying near the American drone. One of the fighters then releases a series of flares as it passes over the drone.
“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,” Grynkewich said in a statement. “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.”
A day earlier, the U.S. Air Force claimed that three Russian fighter jets harassed three of its drones over Syria’s northern region.
In response to these accusations, Oleg Gurinov, deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, said that the fire control systems of American drones operating over the country emit signals that target Russian warplanes and automatically trigger their defensive aide suites, which release flares.
“Of particular concern are reports received from pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces, who registered cases of U.S. drones using their electronic fire guidance systems on Russian warplanes, automatically triggering their on-board defensive aide suites,” said the commander.
Gurinov added that Russia continues to register ongoing violation of deconfliction protocols, committed by drones of the U.S.-led coalition in Syria.
“Nine violations were registered over the past 24 hours. All of them occurred in the area in northern Syria, closed for all air traffic amid the joint Russian-Syrian military exercise,” he said.
The first stage of the joint Russian-Syrian aerial drills began on July 5. According to the Russian defense ministry, the exercises will continue until mid-July.
While the U.S. claims that its drones are operating over Syria against ISIS, it is possible that they are in fact spying on the Russian-Syrian drills.
Tensions between U.S. and Russian forces in Syria have been mounting since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The U.S. Air Force attempts to expand its drone operations over the war-torn country without coordinating with the Russian side will eventually lead to a serious escalation.
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