Russian fighter jet flies feet from U.S. aircraft
A Russian fighter jet came “within several feet” of an Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea and lingered by the side of the U.S. plane for several minutes on Monday, U.S. military officials said.
The Russian Su-27 maneuvered its wingtip within a few feet of the larger, slower RC-135 for several minutes, said Meghan Henderson, a spokesman for U.S. European Command. The Pentagon considered the incident, known as an “intercept,” unsafe because of the “high rate of closure speed” and the “poor control of the aircraft” that the Russian pilot had, Henderson said.
The RC-135 is a modified C-135 plane that carries advance sensors that allow airmen inside to detect and make sense of electronic signals. Its crew typically includes more than 30 people, including electronic warfare officers, intelligence operators and maintenance technicians, according to the Air Force.
The Su-27 is a Russian-made jet that was designed to be competitive with so-called fourth-generation aircraft used by the Pentagon, such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Hornet.
The U.S. and Russia both regularly intercept each other’s aircraft but are expected to follow an internationally recognized set of procedures when doing so in order to avoid accidental collisions. In one example, a Russian jet flew within 20 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8 surveillance plane in May over the Black Sea, south of Russia. The U.S. and Russia both said that interaction was carried out in a safe and professional manner.
The U.S. and Russian militaries have had several altercations off the Russian coast in international airspace and waters in the past few years, though none has spiraled into bloodshed.
In April 2016, the pattern included Russian Su24s zipping no more than a few hundred feet by the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, “dangerously close” to the ship, U.S. officials said.
In another intercept in April 2016, A Russian Su-27 barrel-rolled over an RC-135 and came within 50 feet of the plane. The Pentagon decried the maneuver as unsafe and aggressive.