Image source: topwar.ru
Footage of events in the sky over eastern Syria that took place on the morning of July 5, 2023 appeared on the Internet. Three fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces intercepted three unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-9 Reaper of the US Air Force. The drones, according to the American command, carried out tasks allegedly to combat local militants.
The commander of the Air Force of the US Central Command, Lieutenant General Alex Grinkevich, after this event accused the Russian pilots of "unprofessional behavior" and "unsafe maneuvers". The general of the American aviation demanded to stop such actions, which, in his opinion, threaten both the US military and the Russian military.
Meanwhile, the Western press reports that there have been a lot of similar incidents. The score goes to dozens, according to American journalists. The command of the US Air Force even had to send F-22 Raptors to deter Russian flights over American bases. However, the United States forgets that the American army and its bases are in Syria illegally, unlike the Russian troops, who were called to help in the fight against terrorists by the legitimate president of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar al-Assad.
Image source: topwar.ru
Cameras and sensors of the MQ-9 Reaper UAV recorded how Russian Su-35 aircraft dropped some objects similar to flares in the path of drones. In a similar way, the Russian pilot acted in March 2023, when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted over the Black Sea and later crashed. According to General Grinkevich, one of the Russian pilots in the sky over Syria specifically interfered with the drone, and the UAV operator could not safely control it.
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
However, American drones can make the safest flights over the territory of the United States, and the Pentagon should understand that the presence of American military and equipment in other parts of the world, especially without the permission of sovereign states, will always carry certain risks.
