A Russian Sukhoi 27 fighter jet has intercepted a U.S. RC-135U plane in global airspace, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday.
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U.S. officials said, “On January 25, 2016, a U.S. RC-135U flying a routine route in worldwide airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner”.
This is just the latest report of Russian jets buzzing us aircraft in that same region.
“The Pentagon says USA military operations in the Black Sea are routine and in accordance with global law”. After that, the jet performed what USA officials described as “an aggressive maneuver” when turning away from the intelligence plane.
The unnamed official didn’t know if the Russian jet was armed at the time.
During the intercept of the RC-135U, the Russian pilot flew as close as 15 feet alongside the American reconnaissance plane, a Defense Department official said. She added that all details of the incident involving the Russian and US Airforce aircraft were thoroughly studied and investigated.
At the time, a U.S. official called it “one of the most risky close passes in decades”, saying the Russian jet “put the lives of the USA crew in jeopardy”.
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Thursday’s conference focused on the safety of air crews, avoiding accidents and “unintended confrontation between coalition and Russian forces whenever the two sides operate in close proximity”, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. “Locating and identifying foreign military land, naval and airborne radar signals, the Combat Sent collects and minutely examines each system, providing strategic analysis for warfighters”. One occurred over the Baltic Sea on April 7, 2015, and another over the Black Sea on May 30 of the same year, according to the Washington Free Beacon. That incident was also notorious for an act in which the Russian jet turned and showed its “belly” to the USA crew so that they could see that the jet was armed with missiles.
