![]() The jet blast from the afterburner could have potentially damaged the Reaper’s electronics, and Grynkewich said it reduced the drone operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft. In the first incident, which took place about 10:40am (07:40 GMT) local time on Wednesday in northwest Syria, Russian Sukhoi SU-35 fighters closed in on a Reaper drone, and one of the Russian pilots moved their aircraft in front of the US aerial vehicles and engaged the SU-35’s afterburner, which greatly increases its speed and air pressure. “We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behaviour and adhere to the standards of behaviour expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, head of US Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement. In this image from a video released by the US air force, a Russian SU-35 flies near a US MQ-9 Reaper drone on July 5, 2023, over Syria “The events represent a new level of unprofessional and unsafe action by Russian air forces operating in Syria,” the US military said. ![]() Two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones were captured on video, the US said. ![]() The Russian aircraft had engaged in “non-professional interaction” with two of France’s Rafale planes deployed to the region as part of “Operation Chammal”, which seeks to contain the ISIL (ISIS) group in Iraq and Syria, the French military said. The protest from the US air forces came as the French military said that two of its fighter jets on patrol over the Iraq-Syria border area were forced to manoeuvre “to control the risk of accident” involving a Russian Sukhoi SU-35 warplane on Thursday. Russian fighter jets have again flown dangerously close to several US MQ-9 Reaper drones operating over Syria – the second such incident of harassment in 24 hours – setting off flares and forcing Washington’s unmanned aerial vehicles to take evasive manoeuvres, the United States air force said. ![]()
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