Russia Is Tracking U.S. F-22 Flights Over Syria

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Jahara 'Franky' Matisek, Defense One: As US Bombs ISIS, Be Wary of Moscow’s Spies

Does the USAF really need to fly F-22s where Russia can practice tracking them?

The U.S.-led coalition is expected to step up anti-ISIS airstrikes in the wake of the Paris attacks, but it should do so with prudence — and not for the obvious reasons of minimizing civilian casualties or dampening perceptions of a war on Islam. The U.S. and its allies must weigh their desires to hit ISIS targets against the risk of revealing to the world heretofore-secret information about their weapons to the world.

In September, as Moscow began deploying its own combat aircraft to Syria, it sent along SA-22 Greyhound air defense systems as well. One of Russia’s more advanced air defense weapons, the SA-22 can fire antiaircraft guns and missiles to shoot down threats out to about 18 miles away. But ISIS operates no offensive aircraft, and in any case, the Syrian government already has plenty of air defense systems of its own. So what are the SA-22s doing there?

Update: All Seeing Eye: US Risks Exposing Top Secret Data to Russian Recon in Syria (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: I suspect that the U.S. are also checking out how Russia is monitoring them.