![](https://avgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ShowImage.ashx_.jpeg)
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle shot down a drone this afternoon over Syria, after the unmanned “predator sized” aircraft dropped a munition near U.S. ground and coalition forces.
The incident occurred in the town of At Tanf, an outpost close to the Jordanian border where U.S. special ops, Syrian rebel forces and other coalition partners train to fight ISIS.
The drone caused no damage or casualties, hitting “dirt” according to U.S. Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve’s Combined Joint Task Force, which is leading the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
“The shoot down follows an earlier engagement in the day in which Coalition forces destroyed two pro-regime armed technical vehicles that advanced inside the well established de-confliction zone threatening Coalition and partner forces”, added U.S. Central Command, in an email released not long after.
![](https://avgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/F-15-vs-Mig-23-1.jpg)
It’s believed the drone strike was carried out by Iranian backed rebels.
“The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces near coalition and partner forces in southern Syria continue to concern us, and the coalition will take appropriate measures to protect our forces,” the statement said.
American pilots don’t shoot down many planes anymore, because nobody in their right mind would ever dare challenge them and their machines in the air these days. Arguably the most successful weapon ever created in the history of the world, the F-15 has never been shot down, and it has never NOT nailed its target. It even has the distinction of scoring an air to air kill by dropping a bomb on a helicopter during operation Desert Storm.
– Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography