Small Wars Journal

Did U.S. Drones Swarm a Russian Base in Syria? Probably Not, But that Capability Isn’t Far Off.

Tue, 10/30/2018 - 12:05am

Did U.S. Drones Swarm a Russian Base in Syria? Probably Not, But that Capability Isn’t Far Off. By Kyle Rempfer - Military Times

U.S. Defense Department officials are pushing back hard against Russian claims that they were involved in a drone attack on a Russian air base in Syria earlier this year.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Thursday that 13 drones were heading toward Khmeimim air base in Syria’s coastal Latakia province when a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon flying over the Mediterranean took “manual control” of them and began searching for “holes through which they started penetrating.”

“Then they were destroyed,” Fomin said.

American officials flatly denied the accusation.

“Any suggestion that U.S. or coalition forces played a role in an attack on a Russian base is without any basis in fact and is utterly irresponsible,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement to Military Times…

Read on.