The US military claimed Tuesday that a Russian fighter jet collided with and destroyed an American drone operating over Syria. This was yet another forceful intercept by Moscow as relations with Washington over Ukraine’s year-long war remain high. According to the US Air Force Central, on July 23, a Russian fighter aircraft went dangerously close to a US MQ-9 drone on a defeat-ISIS operation. The Russian jet harassed the MQ-9 and deployed flares from a position immediately overhead, with only a few meters of space between the aircraft. Chief of US Air Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkeich, said that one of the Russian flares had landed in the United States on an MQ-9, seriously harming its propeller.
Fortunately, the MQ-9 crew was able to continue the flight and safely return the aircraft to its home base. He added that the Russian fighter’s “blatant disregard” for flight safety detracts from America’s objective to assure ISIS’s long-term defeat. “We urge Russian forces in Syria to stop this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior immediately.”
A little more than a week ago, a Russian fighter jet chased a US surveillance plane over Syria. The incident was at least the seventh clash between US and Russian military aircraft since the beginning of the month. Tensions between the US and Russia have been rising over America’s support for Kyiv in the war that Moscow launched last February. The war is costing Moscow dearly, as Western military support led by the United States denies Russia victory while draining its resources and men, upsetting the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was unsure what caused the sudden spike in encounters between both military fighter jets in the skies. “Analysts are working hard to figure that out.” I’m not sure if it has anything to do with Ukraine. “Right now, nothing suggests that it is,” he told reporters at a recent briefing.
Some officials believe it is the result of increased coordination among Russia, Syria, and Iran and is intended to encourage the US to leave Syria, clearing the way for further Iranian engagement, particularly in the south.
director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Programme at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Syria was “seen by the Russians as an arena for competition as well as cooperation with the US” before the Ukraine war.
He stated that their common interests in Syria included restricting Iran and Turkey’s footprints, preventing a military escalation between Iran and Israel that could spark a regional war, pushing a diplomatic settlement to the Syrian conflict, and denying the Islamic State a safe haven.
After Ukraine, Slim said, “There is a growing agreement between Russian and Iranian views on an endgame that sees US forces driven out of Syria.” Russia denies US and Ukrainian claims that it obtained hundreds of Iranian drones for the conflict.
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