Moment Russian military jets harass US drones targeting ISIS over Syria causing near misses

Three Russian jets harassed American drones that were monitoring ISIS targets over Syria, a U.S. commanding officer has said.

The American military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones were flying over the war-torn country on Wednesday at around 10.40am local time when the Russian SU-35 jets started hounding them.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the commander of the Ninth Air Force and the Combined Forces Air Component for U.S. Central Command, said the Kremlin’s jets were acting in an ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ manner.

This forced the American aircraft to take ‘evasive maneuvers’, the General said, after the events which could have threatened the ‘safety of both U.S. and Russian forces’.

The U.S. Central Command released footage of the incident. The Russian jets can be seen diving beneath the drones and releasing parachute flares in front of them.

Parachute flares, that according to the U.S. Air Force, were released by a Russian SU-35 are visible near a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone flying over Syria

‘Against established norms and protocols, the Russian jets dropped multiple parachute flares in front of the drones, forcing our aircraft to conduct evasive maneuvers,’ Grynkewich said.

‘Additionally, one Russian pilot positioned their aircraft in front of an MQ-9 and engaged afterburner, thereby reducing the operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.’

During the ‘unsafe’ hounding, one of the Russian pilots moved their aircraft in front of a drone and engaged the SU-35’s afterburner, which greatly increases its speed and air pressure.

The jet blast from the afterburner can potentially damage the Reaper’s electronics, and Grynkewich said it reduced the drone operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.

Grynkewich urged the Kremlin’s forces to ‘cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS.’

The harassing of the MQ-9 Reaper drones may have proven particularly dangerous as they frequently carry Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs.

The U.S. and Russia are both active in Syria. Russia has long provided support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while the US has engaged in the anti-ISIS coalition.

Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Russia’s violation of ongoing efforts to clear the airspace over Syria ‘increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation.’

Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said the Kremlin’s SU-35 jets (pictured) were acting in an ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ manner.

The Russian jets can be seen diving beneath the drones and releasing parachute flares in front of them

About 900 U.S. forces are deployed to Syria to work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling the Islamic State militants there. No other details about the drone operation were provided, and it’s not clear where over Syria the incidents took place.

ISIS once ran a third of Syria and Iraq at its peak in 2014. It adheres to ultra-hardline interpretation of Islam, committing atrocities including the slaughter of thousands of Yazidis. Its ISIS militants carried out numerous attacks overseas including a rampage that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015.

Since the collapse of the jihadist group’s ‘caliphate’ in 2019, three heads of ISIS, including its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have been killed. The latest to die was in October.

As the jihadist group’s founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, spent nine years in charge of ISIS before he blew himself up in north-western Syria in 2019.

During his tenure, his army of fanatics slaughtered more than 100,000 people, carrying out upwards of 26,000 terror attacks worldwide, data collected by The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center claims.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi spent nine years in charge of ISIS before he blew himself up in north-western Syria in 2019

Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the commander of the Ninth Air Force and the Combined Forces Air Component for U.S. Central Command, said the Kremlin’s jets were acting in an ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ manner

In February last year, al-Baghdadi was tracked down by US special forces to the town of Barisha, in northwestern Syria, about 35 miles west of Aleppo.

The ISIS chief detonated a suicide vest after fleeing into a tunnel while being chased by US military dogs, former President Donald Trump claimed at the time.

His successor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi took command in October 2019 – but lasted little more than two years at the helm before he was killed.

He blew himself and his family up during a raid by American commandos on a house in northwest Syria in February 2022.

Eight months after taking over the group, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the third so-called ‘caliph’ was killed after detonating a  suicide vest. He has since been replaced by Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.