(CNN) Russian pilots tried to “dogfight” US jets in Syria, according to a spokesman for the US Central Command, which is part of a recent pattern of more aggressive behavior.
The tests occurred in some of the most recent instances of aggressive behavior from Russian pilots, Col. Joe Buccino said.
The Russian pilots do not appear to be trying to shoot down the American jets, a US official told CNN, but they may be trying to “provoke” the US and “bring us into an international incident. ”
In military aviation, dogfighting involves aerial combat, usually at relatively close range.
A video released by US Central Command from April 2 shows a Russian SU-35 fighter jet conducting an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept of a US F-16 fighter jet.
A second video from April 18 shows a Russian fighter breaching coalition airspace and coming within 2,000 feet of a US aircraft, a distance that a fighter jet can cover an object of seconds.
In the past few years, the US has used a deconfliction line between the two Syrian militaries to avoid unintentional mistakes or clashes that could inadvertently lead to escalation.
US officials have reached out to their Russian counterparts on recent incidents, and the Russians have responded, the official said, but “never in a way that acknowledges the incident.”
Since the beginning of March, Russian jets have violated deconfliction protocols a total of 85 times, the official said, including flying too close to coalition bases, failing to reach the line of deconfliction, and more.
It also includes 26 instances where armed Russian jets have flown over US and coalition positions in Syria.
“It looks consistent with a new way of operating,” the official said. US pilots refrain from engaging in dogfights and follow protocols on deconfliction measures, the official added.
The US has approximately 900 service members in Syria as part of the ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS.
More aggressive behavior from Russian pilots has also occurred outside of Syria.
In March, a Russian SU-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in international airspace over the Black Sea.
The collision damaged the drone’s propeller, forcing it to fall into the water in an incident described by the US as “unsafe, unprofessional” and even “reckless.”
“It’s worrying because it increases the risk of miscalculation, and given incidents like the MQ-9 intercept and subsequent sinking in the Black Sea, it’s not the kind of behavior I expect from a professional Air Force,” the commander of the US Air Force Central Command, Lt. gen. Alexus Grynkewich said in a statement earlier this month.
Russia presents state awards to pilots of Russian jets.
