US F-15 Fighter Jet Shoots Down Assad Regime Drone in Syria

An American F-15 fighter jet shot down an Iranian-made armed drone in southern Syria early on June 20, the second such incident in two weeks.

The US-led coalition said in a statement that an F-15E Strike Eagle jet destroyed the Shahed-129 drone around 12:30 am (2130 GMT) northeast of the Al-Tanaf garrison, which is close to the Jordanian border.

The official statement said the downed aircraft was a Shahed 129, the same type of drone that an American warplane blasted on June 8 after the drone dropped a bomb near American-supported Syrian fighters and their coalition advisers at the same location.

“The F15 intercepted the armed UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] after it was observed advancing on coalition positions. It had ‘dirty wings’, meaning it was loaded with ordnance. The UAV did not make an attempt to divert,” said Capt Jeff Davis, the Pentagon spokesman.

The fighter jet intercepted the drone and tried to get it to change course, but it continued to fly toward the fighters, who were at a combat outpost with their advisers northeast of the town al-Tanf. The drone was shot down shortly after midnight local time, the statement said.

It also comes after an American F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter-bomber Sunday in northern Syria as it "dropped bombs" near the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance fighting ISIL.