Russian Sukhoi fighters intercepted French Rafales and US KC-10 Extender over Syria
An unofficial Instagram account of Russian pilot posted a video showing intercept of a couple of French Rafale fighter jets with a U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender aircraft that flying over Syria.
A French Naval Rafale receives fuel from a 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron KC-10 Extender during a flight in support of Operation Inherent Resolve June 2, 2017. Rafale is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft with a wide range of weapons. The Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike and anti-ship strike missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Battles)
The author of the post claims that video shows the moment when a U.S Air Force KC-10 Extender provides aerial refueling to two French Rafaels in a coordinated campaign alongside US and British forces during combat operations in Syria.
No further details on the date or location have been released.
Pentagon official early has confirmed similar incidents with Russian fighter jets over Syria, that took place during US-led Coalition military operation.
Moreover, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, the commander of the US Air Forces Central Command (CENTCOM) said during Department of Defense briefing about Russian jets conducting an “unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. KC-10 aerial refueling tanker aircraft over Syria in May 2017.
“I will share with you… one incident where there was an intercept they [Russia] ran that I would categorize as unprofessional,” Harrigian said during a Department of Defense briefing via teleconference. “And we called them on it, and expressed our concern. And they came back, quite frankly, and apologized for that particular intercept.”
When asked by journalists what had exactly happened, the military official responded: “Let’s see… This particular one had to do with — I can’t remember if it was a SU-35 or a SU-30 involved with one of our KC-10s.”
Whether this incident is exactly what is shown in the video is not known.
Source: BY DYLAN MALYASOV (defence-blog.com) – OCT 31, 2018
