- US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets were redeployed to the Middle East in mid-June
- Their redeployment comes amid repeated cases of aggressive flying by Russian air force pilots.
- That reflects the history of tension between the US and Russia in the region, especially over Syria.
The US Air Force's top commander in the Middle East warned in June of increasingly aggressive actions by Russian fighter pilots over Syria. It was only the latest warning of such activity, and it reflects a long history of contentious interactions between US and Russian forces in Syria that will persist amid broader tensions, experts say.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of US Air Forces Central Command, said
on June 21 that Russian fighter pilots are behaving more aggressively over Syria and suggested it might be "a way to compensate for the fact that they have had to move capability and capacity out of Syria in order to support the war in Ukraine."
Speaking to reporters last month, Grynkewich pointed to a mid-March incident in which a Russian fighter jet struck an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, forcing it down in the Black Sea.
The pilot was rewarded for that action, proving that Russia encourages such "unprofessional behavior," Grynkewich said. "So any time you have an air force that has fallen so low on the professional ladder that they're giving medals for buffoonery in the air, you've really got to wonder what they're thinking."
The F-22 redeployment is "part of a multifaceted show of US support and capability in the wake of what I would deem increasingly unsafe and unprofessional behavior" by Russian aircraft in Syria, Grynkewich said, arguing it was necessary because of Russia's increasing "unprofessional behavior" and its pilots "flying in a more assertive manner against us."