The US military has released a declassified video of fully armed Russian jets intercepting US aircraft over Syria on two separate occasions.
- One of the clips was recorded on Tuesday and shows high-resolution images
- The two interceptions are part of a larger trend of the Russian-American air conflict
- Central Command warned that the war in Ukraine could spill over into Syria
On Wednesday, US Central Command released videos of Russian warplanes intercepting US planes over Syria on two separate occasions, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.
The videos show high-quality infrared sightings of a Russian Su-35 that intercepted a US aircraft just one month after Gen. Michael ‘Eric’ Korella, head of Central Command, said he had seen a rise in aggressive Russian activity.
“We’ve seen a spike since about March 1 in Syria,” Gen. Korella told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 16.
Kurella has also previously warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could spill over into Syria, where Moscow might try to act as a “spoiler”.
Kurella’s comments followed US assertions that Russia’s interception of a US drone over the Black Sea last month was part of a more aggressive pattern of behavior by the Russian military.
On Wednesday, US Central Command released videos of Russian warplanes intercepting US planes over Syria on two separate occasions, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.
The US Air Force Center said that armed Russian aircraft flew directly over coalition-held territory in Syria 26 times between March 1 and April 19 this year.
AFCENT said the video was taken by a US fighter jet on Tuesday and is similar to video footage from the previous shot by advanced targeting pods used by US tactical combat aircraft, according to the CD player.
The caption from the video calls it “Declassified footage of a Russian Su-35 violating coalition airspace in Syria.”
The video shows the Russian pilot coming within 2,000 feet of the American plane, defying long-established protocols.
The exact nature of the violation of those protocols is not made clear, although the United States and Russia have long had deconfliction agreements in Syria, but American officials have admitted to violating them often.
A second, lower quality video was filmed on April 2 and shows “one Russian Su-35 conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a US F-16.”
Both videos claim that these two violated US-coalition-controlled airspace over Syria.
The Russian Su-35 had not yet been disengaged when it entered the airspace. This incident follows a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots as they interact with US and coalition aircraft.
The videos show high-quality infrared views of a Russian Su-35 intercepting an American vehicle
Gen. Michael Eric Korella, head of Central Command, said he has seen a rise in aggressive Russian activity
“These aggressive actions by Russian aircrews show (a) a lack of competence and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation,” the federation said in a statement.
These 26 violations are nearly half of the 63 total violations since the protocols were established between the United States and Russia in 2019.
“In the course of my career, I have never seen this kind of disregard for agreed protocols and no-conflict rules,” Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkiewicz of the AFC said in a statement. We’ve seen Russian planes come within 500 feet of our planes.
