Russia was accused by US Central Command of unsafe behavior in Syria, causing harm to a US drone. This is the latest incident in numerous attempts by Russia to harass US forces in Syria.
US Central Command said that Russia had conducted “unsafe and unprofessional behavior in the air” and that it “not only degrades our Defeat ISIS mission, it risks unintended escalation and miscalculation,” General Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, Commander, US Central Command said.
This relates to a July 23 incident where “Russian military aircraft deployed flares, damaging a US MQ-9 while conducting a defeat-ISIS mission, the US said. Lt.-Gen. Alex Grynkewich, commander of the US 9th Air Force unit, which is often called AFCENT or Air Force Central Command, commented on the incident.
Grynkewich’s statement notes that a “Russian fighter aircraft flew dangerously close to a US 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.”
It notes also that “one of the Russian flares struck the US MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller. Fortunately, the MQ-9 crew was able to maintain flight and safely recover the aircraft to its home base.”
Danger to drones
The US accuses the Russians of using their warplanes in a “blatant disregard for flight safety detracts from our mission to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior.”
Similar behavior by Russia downed a US drone over the Black Sea in March. In early July Russia harassed US drones in Syria twice. This took place twice in one 24-hour period reports said on July 5.
The overall context is that Russia is harassing the US in Syria and this harms the anti-ISIS mission. It also is a message to the US that although Russia is bogged down in Ukraine it is still tracking US aircraft in Syria. The US has sent F-22s to the region to deter Russia. It’s not clear if this is working.