U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Drone Made Dangerous Close Approach to Russian Su-35 Over Syria

An MQ-9 Reaper drone operating over Syria's Homs province by the United States, or possibly one of its coalition allies, was reproed to have made an unsafe close approach to a Russian Air Force Su-35 fighter. The deputy head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria reported regarding the incident: "In the area of the village of Al Sukhnah in Homs province, a dangerous proximity occurred between a coalition MQ-9 Reaper UAV performing a scheduled flight in Syrian airspace, and a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 aircraft. The Russian pilot demonstrated high professionalism, taking timely measures to prevent a collision.” With Western combat aircraft operating in Syrian airspace near continuously, the day of the approach on July 12 there were were 12 recorded airspace violations, including a pair of F-15s, a pair of Rafale fighters, two pairs of Eurofighters, and two pairs of A-10 attack jets.

An MQ-9 was previously reported to have made a close approach to a Su-35 15 days prior on June 27 - a day which saw 12 recorded sustained violations of Syrian airspace by Western combat aircraft. Russia and the United States both maintain significant military presences in Syria, the former in Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast, and the latter primarily in the northeastern regions bordering Iraq which house the country’s prime agricultural land and the bulk of its oil wealth. Russia was invited to establish a military presence by the Syrian government in 2015 to assist with counterinsurgency and limit further Western and Turkish attacks on the country, while the presences of the U.S. and its allies lack either UN authorisation or that of Damascus, leading them to widely be considered illegal. Controversy over the U.S.-led Western presence grew as their forces began to pillage Syrian oil wealth, which has been transported through Iraq and sold abroad to help finance the occupation.  

MQ-9 drones have been involved in multiple encounters with Russian aircraft based in Syria, and on July 23, 2023 a Reaper saw its propeller severely damaged in one such encounter. A Su-35 had previously on July 5 conducted aggressive manoeuvres near three Reapers also over Syria. Beyond Syria, a Russian Su-27, which uses the same basic highly manoeuvrable airframe design as the Su-35, conducted similar manoeuvres near a Reaper near Crimea causing it to crash. Su-35s were first deployed to Syria in early 2016 specifically to counter potential threats from Western and Turkish aircraft to Russian forces, and the would subsequently on multiple occasions be deployed to intercept Western, Turkish and Israeli aircraft over Syrian territory. The fighter class has since since burnished its combat record with multiple arial victories over Ukraine, with the aircraft expected to see its first combat against U.S.-built F-16 fighters which are set to begin being fielded by the Ukrainian Air Force before the end of 2024.