A Russian fighter came within 15 feet of a United States Air Force reconnaissance plane flying in international airspace over the Black Sea on Monday, U.S. military officials said today.
The Pentagon is calling the intercept by a Russian SU-27 pilot as being conducted in “an unsafe and unprofessional manner” that put “both the American flight crew and himself at risk.”
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. It then banked hard to the right “with a heavy amount of power, which caused a destabilizing action for the RC-135.”
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A Russian fighter came within 15 feet of a United States Air Force reconnaissance plane flying in international airspace over the Black Sea on Monday, U.S. military officials said today.
The Pentagon is calling the intercept by a Russian SU-27 pilot as being conducted in “an unsafe and unprofessional manner” that put “both the American flight crew and himself at risk.”
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. It then banked hard to the right “with a heavy amount of power, which caused a destabilizing action for the RC-135.”
The official said intercepts of American reconnaissance flights are common, “but this was unusually close,” which “was enough to cause concern.”
Read more at ABC News
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