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.”
A Russian Su-27 aircraft dumps fuel while flying upon a U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft over the Black Sea, March 14, 2023 in this still image taken from a handout video. (credit: Courtesy of U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS)
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.
jsar16 on July 25th, 2023 at 14:38 UTC »
Well that’s partly why we use drones, so that no humans are injured. Still provocative and idiotic.
Not_for_consumption on July 25th, 2023 at 13:47 UTC »
Just the usual games, testing the waters, pushing the line. They Russian govt will know that this causes a disproportionate amount of drama and concern in the US. Probably senior members of the military and govt woken up at night, concern about escalation, planning responses, and so on. They can cause so much disruption and stress by hitting one unmanned vehicle with a flare. And if it escalates the Russian military can wait to the last minute and then step back knowing that the USA will step back too. It's too level trolling, not quite the masterful brinkmanship of the Khrushchev days, no where near that level. But it's the same idea except without any political purpose except to sow chaos
jagnew78 on July 25th, 2023 at 13:13 UTC »
it's hard to imagine what the end goal of these kinds of activities are.
Russia is playing within a vague grey area of doing some activity which may provoke all out war, but might not, and the US thinking "Is this the line that cannot be crossed?"
the end result can only be a world war, and there is no possible hope for Putin, or any of the power players within Russia to survive this. Even if Russia can destroy most of the US/UK, or whoever else the point their ICBM's at... it is literally a no hope for win situation.
How bad does it have to be in your brain to think it's better to destroy the planet than to live in wealth and comfort for the rest of your life?