THE U.S. Department of Defense released footage of what it calls a pattern of ‘unprofessional’ behavior by the Russian air force over Syria.

The footage, released on Wednesday (April 19), shows two recent incidents. In the first, from April 02, a Russian Su-35 jet intercepts a U.S. F-16 in a way labelled on the video as “unsafe and unprofessional”.

The second, from Tuesday (April 18), shows another Su-35 that the U.S. says violated coalition airspace over Syria and then maneuvered within 2,000 feet of U.S. aircraft when it was intercepted.

In mid-March the U.S. military said it had significant spike in unprofessional behavior by Russia's air force in Syria since March 1, At the time, the top U.S commander for the region cited flights by armed Russian warplanes over U.S. bases there as an example.

The comments followed U.S. assertions that Russia's intercept of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea in mid-March was part of a pattern of more aggressive behavior by Russia's military.

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