This unsettling incident occurred when a Russian fighter jet ‘struck’ a second US drone over Syria in less than 24 hours.
The sixth alleged incident this month was captured on camera when the plane flew metres away from the MQ-9 Reaper, flared at it, and reportedly damaged it.
The attack was disclosed by the White House on Wednesday, along with the statement that Russian warplanes had come perilously close to American manned and unmanned aircraft, endangering pilots.
Unnamed two US officials confirmed that the drone was hit by the strike and suffered damage.
According to the US, this is when a Russian plane fired flares at their drone above Syria.
However, neither the incident nor the White House’s strategy for countering Russian aggression were made explicit.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We have seen the reports, the early reports, of a second Russian fighter aircraft this week flying dangerously close to our drone.” The aircraft was on a mission to battle Islamic State extremists in Syria.
She claimed that Russia violated international conventions by “approaching closely and deploying flares over US drones during a routine mission.”
It took place only a few hours after a Russian fighter jet fired flares at a US drone over Syria as it flew within a few metres of it.
But a top Russian military official claimed that the US was at fault for the most recent incident.
The drone came perilously close to two Russian jets early on Wednesday, according to Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, commander of the Russian military’s Reconciliation Centre in Syria.
According to Gurinov, the Su-34 and Su-35 Russian aircraft‘s onboard systems identified the target aircraft and triggered the automated flare deployment.
In a statement cited by the Interfax news agency, Gurinov said that “the United States are continuing to mislead the public about the illegal flights of its drones in the Syrian airspace that have not undergone deconflicting procedure while accusing the Russian side of dangerous manoeuvring.”