A Russian fighter jet fired flares at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria, causing damage to it as it conducted a "defeat-ISIS mission."
The crafts engaged in the air at around 12:23am EST on July 23 - the Russian plane "flew dangerously close" to the American craft, said Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich in a statement.
It began "harassing the MQ-9" and deployed its flares over it once the crafts only had a few meters of space between them, the commander of the Ninth Air Force, who is also the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) for CENTCOM, said.
One of the flares hit a propeller on the drone, "severely damaging" it.
The flare fired by the Russian fighter jet damaged the propeller of the MQ-9 (USAFCENT/Twitter)"The Russian fighter's blatant disregard for flight safety detracts from our mission to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS," Grynkewich said. "We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked and unprofessional behavior."
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The MQ-9 crew was able to get the craft securely back to its home base.
But this isn't the first time Russian forces have behaved in "unsafe and unprofessional" manner over the skies of Syria in recent weeks.
On July 16, another military aircraft engaged an American MC-12 that was supporting the operations of the Coalitions Defeat ISIS mission.
Other incidents of Russian aggression have occurred over the skies of Syria in recent weeks (USAFCENT/Twitter)The craft was "closely approached" by a Russian Su-35, Grynkewich said in a other statement - an act that defied "established norms and protocols" and forced the MC-12 to fly through its wake turbulence.
Four crew members had been piloting the craft and were in danger of crashing.
"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."
The US Air Force encourages the Russian military to exercise caution and follow safety protocols in the airs over Syria (AP)Two other incidents involving the harassment of MQ-9 Reaper drones occurred the week prior, too.
A Russian fighter jet harassed three MQ-9s over the course of nearly two hours on July 7, making 18 "unprofessional close passes" that forced the drones and their pilots "to react to avoid unsafe situations," Grynkewich said.
The day before, on July 6, another Russian aircraft dropped flares in front of several Reaper drones and "flew dangerously close" to the craft, "endangering the safety of all aircraft involved."
And the day before that, on July 5, yet another Russian jet launched parachute flares at even more MQ-9 drones.
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Grynkewich said the behaviors "threaten the safety of both Coalition and Russian forces."
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