U.S. deploys F-22s to Middle East in response to 'unsafe' Russian aircraft activity

The Air Force has deployed F-22 fighter jets to the Middle East because of unsafe Russian aircraft activity, U.S. Central Command announced on Wednesday.

The stealth jets, deployed from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, will join existing American and allied air and ground forces in the area, according to a news release from CENTCOM, which also covers portions of South and Central Asia.

“Russian Forces’ unsafe and unprofessional behavior is not what we expect from a professional air force,” Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the head of CENTCOM, said in the release. “Their regular violation of agreed upon airspace deconfliction measures increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation.”

As the war in Ukraine continues, relations between the U.S. and Russia have remained tense. American military officials have reported increasingly reckless Russian activity in the Mideast region for several months.

Armed Russian jets flew over a U.S. military output in Syria nearly every day in March, an army commander told NBC News that month. In April, Russian pilots were seemingly inviting American jets to dogfight in Syria, a lieutenant general told the military publication Defense One.