A Russian fighter jet damages a US drone in the skies over Syria

On the night of July 23, a Su-35 air-defence fighter performed dangerous manoeuvres around an MQ-9 UAV, deploying flares from a position directly overhead.

This was reported by the US Ninth Air Force.

As a reminder, the US and Russia have agreements in place to prevent accidental conflicts during the fighting in Syria. However, in 2023, Russian aviation began to behave aggressively in Syrian airspace and perform dangerous manoeuvres near US aircraft.

This time, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet dropped a heat trap on a US MQ-9 drone, which damaged the drone's propeller. The Russian military had already tried to drop traps on drones on July 5, but the UAVs avoided a collision.

The US military cancelled the combat mission against the Islamic State and returned the drone to its base.