A US aircraft had to divert from a planned route over Syria because it was coming close to a Russian fighter jet on its own mission, the Pentagon said Oct. 6. It was the first time a US jet had to change flight paths because of Russian activity, and because the two countries have not established mutually agreed upon flight safety rules. The Pentagon has ordered US aircraft to change their flight path if they come within 20 nautical miles of Russian aircraft as a safety measure, according to CNN. The Defense Department would not say when this incident occurred. The news comes one day after Russia reportedly agreed to a second round of deconfliction talks with the US in an effort to avoid incidents in the air over Syria. The country’s efforts in Syria are no longer only coming from the air. Russia on Oct. 5 began striking ISIS in Syria from warships in the Caspian Sea, firing 26 Kalibr cruise missiles from four ships, the Russian state-owned TASS News Agency claimed.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…