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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russian, US jets drill together to avoid tie up over Syria ‐ Kremlin
2015-11-04
[Times of Israel] Russia and the US have conducted drills jointly to prevent the possibility of their air forces clashing in Syrian airspace, a Russian official said Tuesday, according to Russian media.

Russian and US jets practiced a close approach to a minimally safe distance of 5.5 kilometers, said Russian army officer Col. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, according to the Sputnik news outlet.

"Today at 11 a.m. Moscow time, Russian and US air forces carried out joint drills on actions by crews and land personnel in cases when aircraft fly in close proximity to each other," Kartapolov was quoted by Sputnik as saying.

The announcement comes a month into Russian operations in Syria, aimed at bolstering embattled president Bashar Assad.

Moscow has butt heads with Washington and other Western capitals over its operations in Syria, amid accusations that it is striking non-jihadist rebel groups and not Islamic State and al-Qaeda fighters.

Officials in Russia and the US, which is also carrying out airstrikes in Syria aimed at weakening the jihadists, had previously said coordination between them was not in the cards.

There was no official US confirmation of the joint drills.
Posted by:Besoeker

#5  I read somewhere that the drill lasted for three minutes.


From an An Nahar article on the subject:

Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the test, carried out between one aircraft from each side over south central Syria, lasted three minutes and "met its intended objective."
Posted by: trailing wife   2015-11-04 16:11  

#4  gorb, to answer your questions; yes and yes.

My question is who else in the area is going to be flying jets around? Okay, the baddies have some missles, but there's no other air force around, right? Right, Iran? Right Jordan? Right Turkey?
Posted by: AlanC   2015-11-04 13:44  

#3  Am I just pessimistic

But, are you pessimistic enough?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2015-11-04 13:22  

#2  Am I just pessimistic here as usual, or is this really political window dressing for the terminally ignorant masses?
Posted by: gorb   2015-11-04 12:26  

#1  I read somewhere that the drill lasted for three minutes.
Posted by: Sven the pelter   2015-11-04 11:08  

00:00