Russian Jet Fighter Damages U.S. Drone Over Syria

WASHINGTON—A Russian jet fighter damaged a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria by releasing flares close to the American aircraft, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The confrontation took place Sunday morning local time and follows similar episodes that U.S. officials say are part of a Russian campaign to pressure American forces to cut back on their military operations in the region. 

The U.S. drone managed to limp back to its base in the region but its propeller was damaged, according to U.S. officials who issued photos and video of the encounter. 

According to a statement issued Tuesday by Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the region, the episode occurred when the Russian plane flew within a few meters of the drone, which was on a mission against Islamic State, and released flares from a position directly overhead. 

“One of the Russian flares struck the U.S. MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller,” he said. “Fortunately, the MQ-9 crew was able to maintain flight and safely recover the aircraft to its home base.”

That confrontation was similar to a March incident over the Black Sea in which a Russian Su-27 jet fighter struck the propeller of an American MQ-9 surveillance drone. That drone crashed into the water below.

U.S. and Russian fighters have never traded blows in the skies over Syria, but tensions between the two militaries in the region have increased since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

The Russia moves and Iranian threats to shipping in the Persian Gulf come as the Pentagon has sought to shift its focus to China and to defending Europe against potential Russian threats. That had led the Pentagon to temporarily move a modest number of air and naval forces back to the Middle East. 

Earlier this month, the Pentagon said that it was sending more U.S. aircraft to the region, including advanced, F-35 fighters, as well as a guided-missile destroyer and two amphibious warships with Marines. 

The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria that are assisting a local partner, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, combat the remnants of Islamic State.

Russia dispatched military forces to Syria in 2015 to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the Syrian opposition. 

U.S. and Russian military commanders have established a “deconfliction” channel to reduce the risk of unintended clashes, but the communications line has been used in recent months to trade complaints about each side’s operations in the region. 

On July 16, U.S. officials say, a Russian Su-35 fighter flew near an American MC-12 reconnaissance plane over Syria, forcing the turboprop to fly through the jet’s wake. That episode, Lt. Gen. Grynkewich said, put the lives of the four-member U.S. crew at risk.

Also this month, a Russian surveillance plane flew over a U.S. base in southeast Syria on an intelligence collection mission for what a U.S. official said was a prolonged period. Russian planes also harassed U.S. drones as they were pursuing an ISIS leader. Russia blamed Washington for those incidents, saying that U.S. drones had flown into an area that was being used for joint Russian and Syrian military drills

In November, a Russian surface-to-air missile fired at a U.S. drone over Syria but didn’t down the aircraft, the U.S. Central Command has said.

Write to Michael R. Gordon at [email protected]