The Russian air force regularly monitors Luftwaffe Tornados conducting reconnaissance in Syrian airspace, according to a Lieutenant-General of the German Air Force, saying that both sides act professionally to prevent incidents. Russia Today reports: Russian pilots take no aggressive actions towards their German colleagues, such as intercepting them or attempting to force them out of the operations area, Joachim Wundrak told Rheinische Post daily. “Those encounters go on professionally, no incidents have been registered,” said the Luftwaffe Lieutenant General, who has just returned from anti-Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) coalition’s coordination center in Qatar. Wundrak said that among Russian jets accompanying German Tornados are advanced 4G++ air superiority Su-35S fighter jets. Thrust vectoring nozzle on a Sukhoi Su-35S The general believes the Russians want to make it clear that “unlike the international [US-led] anti-IS coalition, they operate at the invitation of the legitimate Syrian government.” He noted that the German Air Force has experience in interacting with Russian colleagues, since Germany regularly provides fighter jets for patrolling airspace of NATO member states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, countries that do not have interceptor jets to secure their own airspace. Wundrak estimated the total air force countering IS in Syria and Iraq [...]