Russian fighter jet has ‘unsafe’ close encounter with manned US surveillance aircraft in latest Syria incident: officials

WASHINGTON — A Russian fighter jet buzzed dangerously close to an American aircraft over Syria on Sunday in the latest air encounter between US and Russian forces in the region, endangering US Air Force pilots on board.

The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. when a Russian Su-35 jet closely approached a US MC-12 aircraft “in an unsafe and unprofessional manner” that was “against established norms and protocols,” US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said in a statement.

The American twin-engine turboprop aircraft was “conducting operations in support of the coalition’s Defeat ISIS mission” during the incident, which forced the MC-12 to fly through the Su-35’s wake turbulence, Grynkewich said.

“This reduced the crew’s ability to safely operate the aircraft and put the four crew members’ lives at risk,” he said.

The US did not say what may have provoked the Russian behavior or precisely where over Syria the incident took place. 

The encounter marked the latest in a series of incidents in which Russian jets have harassed US military aircraft in Syria. However, the Sunday encounter differed from earlier events because US personnel were aboard the MC-12.

It came less than two weeks after Russian aircraft dropped a series of flares in front of American drones in back-to-back incidents on July 5 and 6. During those incidents, Russian jets made dangerous maneuvers around American MQ-9 Reaper drones also engaged in military operations targeting ISIS over Syria.

In video released by the Air Force earlier this month, several Su-35s could be seen dropping flares in front of three of the unmanned US aircraft in the incidents. At one point, a Russian jet cut in front of one of the drones and activated its afterburner, which reduced the operator’s ability to safely operate the aircraft.

Days later, the same three US MQ-9 Reaper drones on July 9 were used to kill senior ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in eastern Syria, Central Command said at the time.

While the reasoning behind the Sunday tomfoolery remains unclear, Moscow had earlier claimed its forces were conducting joint drills with Syrian forces when the American drone violated their airspace during the July 5 and 6 incidents.

The Pentagon vehemently denied the claim.

Roughly 900 US personnel are deployed in Syria to help battle ISIS. Many of them are working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their efforts to combat terrorism.

“These actions against a manned aircraft represent a new level of unsafe and unprofessional actions by Russian aircraft operating in Syria,” Grynkewich said. “We strongly urge Russian forces in Syria to cease reckless and threatening behavior that could result in an accident and loss of life, and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional force.”