On Tuesday, the US military said that a Russian fighter jet flew within a few meters of a US drone over Syria and fired flares at it, hitting and damaging the US drone.
A senior Air Force commander said Sunday’s move was an attempt by the Russians to shoot the MQ-9 Reaper drone out of the sky and came just a week after a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US reconnaissance plane carrying a crew in the area, endangering the lives of the four American crew members.
“One of the Russian flare bombs hit the American MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller,” Lieutenant General Alex Greenkowitz, commander of the US Central Air Force, said in a statement describing the latest close call. “We call on Russian forces in Syria to immediately put an end to this reckless, unprovocative and unprofessional behaviour.”
Grynkewich said a crew member operating the drone remotely kept it in the air and brought it back to its home base.
Sunday’s incident is the latest in a series of confrontations between Russian fighter jets and US warplanes flying over Syria. In all but one instance a week earlier, the American MQ-9s were without crew. However, that Sunday, the Russian Su-35 was close to an American MC-12 reconnaissance plane with a crew, forcing it to pass in the wake of the turbulence.
US officials described that time as a significant escalation in an ongoing series of confrontations between US and Russian aircraft that could have resulted in an accident or loss of life. They said the Russian move impeded the crew’s ability to operate their aircraft safely.
US officials said Russian fighter jets have repeatedly harassed American MQ-9 drones in recent weeks, which are conducting missions against the Islamic State group, largely in western Syria.
On numerous occasions in the past three weeks, officials said, Russian fighter jets have flown dangerously close to American Reapers, setting off flares and forcing the drones to perform evasive maneuvers.
US and Russian military officers frequently communicate via a deconfliction phone line during confrontations, in protest of the other’s actions.
There are about 900 American troops in Syria, and others are in and out to carry out missions targeting ISIS militants.