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Russian Fighter Jet Intercepts And Toys With MQ-9 Reaper Drone
Published 3 years ago
An unconfirmed video circulating on social media reportedly shows a Russian fighter pilot intercepting a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, likely over Syria.
While the US and Russia are at odds over the fate of Syria and their air forces regularly share the same air space while carrying out missions counterproductive to each others' goals... there are less (reported) negative interactions over the Syrian battlefield than over the Black Sea and other areas.
In 2015, the US and Russia signed a strict memorandum on air safety over Syria. That agreement hinges heavily on safety protocols for aircrews by maintaining professional airmanship at all times. The memorandum also created and identified frequencies to be used by pilots to deconflict air space as well as ground troops to avoid being hit by airstrikes.
Those agreements do not include mission cooperation or sharing of intelligence. The adherence to that memorandum has clearly achieved its goal in reducing inter airspace incidents.