Russian and US jets in close proximity over Syria

[Boats]

Russian and US jets in close proximity over Syria
Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
01 November 2016
RE: http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/ne...newthread&f=94

Russian and US military aircraft came within a few hundred metres of each other over the Syrian battlespace in mid-October, in what the US Department of Defense (DoD) described as "an unusual occurrence".

According to the DoD the occurrence, which took place on 17 October but not reported until 28 October, saw a Russian fighter and a "larger-framed" US aircraft (which the Russian state RT broadcaster identified as being a Sukhoi Su-35 'Flanker' and Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning And Control System [AWACS] respectively) fly to within 800 m of one another.

"Obviously, it's a concern for us. [The] emergency line of communication was used and there was discussion afterward," the spokesperson for Combined Joint Task Force Operation 'Inherent Resolve', US Air Force (USAF) Colonel John Dorrian said, adding, "The Russian jet passed in front of the coalition jet close enough that the jet-wash from that flight was felt within the larger aircraft … So, that's closer than we'd like. There was an immediate [radio] contact between the aircraft, and then follow-up through the de-confliction channel that we've been working with the Russians [on] for quite some time."

The colonel added that, although concerning, the encounter was not being treated as a hostile act by Russia. "It's been determined by our folks that they saw this as an inadvertent contact … This was not something they saw as an intentional act of hostility."

While seemingly not intentional, this encounter was the closest to date between Russian and Western aircraft flying over Syria. For its part, the Russian government has not commented on the incident, although the RT broadcaster said that the United States had later "apologised".