Friday, August 26, 2016

F-22 Pilots Describe Their Tense Syrian Jet Encounter

Two US F-22 Raptor fighters. REUTERS/Toby Melville

USA Today: Exclusive: U.S. pilots provide first account of tense Syrian jet encounter

A MILITARY BASE IN SOUTHWEST ASIA — Two American fighter pilots who intercepted Syrian combat jets over northern Syria last week said they came within 2,000 feet of the planes without the Syrians aware they were being shadowed.

The tense encounter occurred after Syrian jets dropped bombs near a U.S. adviser team with Kurdish forces in northern Syria. The Pentagon warned Syria that American forces were authorized to take action to defend its troops. Syrian aircraft haven’t dropped bombs in the area since then, and the U.S. military is no longer operating continuous combat patrols there.

“I followed him around for all three of his loops,” one of the American pilots, a 38-year-old Air Force major, told USA TODAY Wednesday in the first detailed account of the incident. “He didn’t appear to have any idea I was there.”

The two pilots asked that their names be withheld for security reasons.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I am surprised that the Syrians did not see them .... or at least that is the impression that the U.S. is giving from this encounter.

6 comments:

the objective voice said...

Goes to show. The Russian boasts that they can see US stealth aircraft are just more Russian propaganda for domestic consumption. They are still decades away from the US Military.

Anonymous said...

Yeah US military never lies ha ha. Brainwashed kid.

Anonymous said...

It really highlights how tense the Americans military is in Syria. I suppose you have to be when you're continuously testing stealth capabilities of fighters. The Russia and Syria contingents seem to be more relaxed, maybe they saw them, maybe they didn't. End of the day the threat of getting shot down is extremely slim, its all just a game of go fish.

Bob Huntley said...

Maybe it was a drone fighter just cruising around picking up strays. One time it will put on the breaks and blow itself up when the strays are close enough.

Sounds like a strategy anyway.

fazman said...

Would it surprise anyone that a export model ground attack aircraft with sub par pilots couldnt see a stealth fighter? .
Id be shocked if they did know they were being tailed

fazman said...
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