An U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility July 25, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Sommers
Two F-35 stealth fighter jets of the United States-led coalition had activated their targeting radars against two Su-34 fighter bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces over Syria, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, said on August 11.
According to the commander, the Russian warplanes detected the radar signal and their onboard defense systems were activated automatically.
“On August 11 from 02:13 a.m. to 02:20 a.m., during a scheduled flight in the vicinity of El-Tanf, two Russian Su-34 and two Su-35 aircraft recorded the impact of aiming systems which triggered an automatic activation of their onboard defense systems. The same aircraft were affected by radiolocation actions on the part of two F-35 fighter jets,” Kulit said during his daily briefing.
The commander warned that the coalition’s actions create situations fraught with aircraft incidents and exacerbate the situation in Syria’s airspace.
During his briefing, Kulit also revealed that coalition fighter jets and drones violated Syria’s airspace 16 times over the southeastern area of all-Tanf in the last 24 hours. The commander added that the coalition’s drones violated deconfliction protocols with the Russian side 11 times during the same period.
The U.S.-led coalition maintains a garrison in al-Tanf as well as a network of bases in the northern and eastern regions of Syria. This deployment is not sanctioned by the country’s government, who considers it to be an illegal occupation.
In recent weeks, the coalition expanded its aerial operations against Syria leading to tensions with the Russian military, which operates in the country under an agreement with the government.
The coalition’s repeated provocations will not likely lead to a direct confrontation with the Russian military group in Syria. However, these acts pose a threat to civilian flights over the country.
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