A Russian fighter jet released decoy flares that damaged the wing of a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone during a recent encounter in northwest Syria.
Russia claimed that the plane automatically fired decoy flares after the drone locked its weapons on it, reported RT.
This was the second incident in one week where an encounter with Russian aircraft resulted in damage to a U.S. drone. According to a photo from the U.S. Air Force, the damage from the first encounter appeared to be a bent propeller.
Earlier in July, Russian jets dropped flares in front of Reaper drones on two consecutive days, but without causing damage. Russia claimed that the drones had entered the airspace of a joint Russian-Syrian anti-drone exercise, per ABC News.
Last week, a manned U.S. MC-12 was forced to fly through the turbulence created by a Russian Su-35 fighter, putting the flight crew’s lives at risk, according to a release from Air Force Central, as reported by ABC News.
U.S. officials had hoped that by releasing images of the damage, the Russians might be persuaded to pull back from such aggressive encounters, reported The Wall Street Journal.
With the increasing frequency of these dangerous encounters, the U.S. is considering how to respond if the Russians bring down an American drone as they did over the Black Sea back in March, according to the WSJ. One option is to use recently deployed F-35 fighters — intended to guard the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian attacks — in the contested airspace over Syria, per the WSJ.
Russian forces have been in Syria since 2015 to bolster Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad against rebel factions that seek his overthrow, per ABC News. Meanwhile, the U.S. reportedly has about 900 troops in eastern Syria backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in an effort to defeat Islamic State.
Since that time, the two militaries have shared the skies by using a “deconfliction hotline” that allows Russian and U.S. commanders in the region to talk to each other, per ABC News. The special phoneline “sometimes gets very heated,” reported ABC.
As the U.S. is pursuing Islamic State’s remnants, it is flying missions in northwest Syria where Russian aircraft normally fly, per the WSJ.
According to the WSJ, the Russian military is keen to make the U.S.’s presence in Syria costly as a way to pressure the U.S. out of its position.
