Last Wednesday in Syria, Russian jets engaged in a skirmish with US drones. According to the US Air Force’s senior commander-in-charge of operations in the Middle East, three Russian jets had harassed the US drones in the northeastern region of Syria. Lt. General Alex Grynkewich of the US Air Force has condemned the intersection of the Russian jets as unprofessional as well as unsafe. According to him, the US Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper Drones were surveying the probable targets of ISIS in Syria.
A detailed video of the skirmish was released by the Central Command of the US. In the video, it could be seen that the Russian fighter jets were releasing flares to block the US drones’ vision. Lt. General Grynkewich further stated that due to the harassment caused by the Russian fighter jets with flares, the US aircraft had to do excluding maneuvers. He also stated that the Russian actions had also jeopardized and affected the ability of the MQ-9 Drone operators to control them.
Russian Jets Had Previously Force Landed An US Drone In Black Sea
Around five months ago, Russian jets had engaged with an MQ-9 Drone on the international waters of the Black Sea. This incident caused much concern in geopolitics. The Russian jets which were two Su-27 jets had intersected the unmanned drone. One of them had purposely released fuel in front of the MQ-9 Drone, causing it to lose control and forced it to go down as its propellers were damaged. In Syria, both the US and Russian forces are present. Syria has formed a coalition with the US against ISIS. While the Russians are present with the assistance of Bashar Al-Assad, the President of Syria.
