US says Russia plane hit drone with flare over Syria

A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone flies a training mission over the Nevada Test and Training Range, in Nevada, United States. [USAF – William Rio Rosado – Anadolu Agency]

The US military said a Russian fighter jet hit a US drone with a flare and “severely” damaged its propeller over Syria, the latest in a series of closer interactions by Russian military aircraft in the region, Reuters reports.

Over the past several months, US officials say, Russian jets have increased the pace of dangerous encounters with US military aircraft over Syria, where forces from both countries operate.

“One of the Russian flares struck the US MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller,” the US military said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Fortunately, the MQ-9 crew was able to maintain flight and safely recover the aircraft to its home base,” the statement added.

US military officials have said it is unclear what has led to the uptick in aggressive Russian moves over Syrian skies.

“There is a bit of an uptick, but I wouldn’t overstate it too much. I think that our forces have adequate rules of engagement and authorities provided to defend themselves,” General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters earlier this month.

READ: US reinforces defences in Syria after Russia jet flies ‘dangerously’

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.