Tense moments in the skies over Black Sea.
On Jan. 25, 2016 a U.S. Air Force RC-135U electronic intelligence gathering aircraft was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet while performing a routine sortie in international airspace over Black Sea.
As reported by Freebeacon.com, during the interception, the Su-27 made an aggressive turn that disturbed the controllability of the RC-135.
Navy Capt. Daniel Hernandez, chief spokesman for the U.S. European Command explained that the interception was conducted in an unsafe and unprofessional manner and that the U.S. are looking into this issue.
According to some defense officials, the RC-135 was flying 30 miles from the coast (well within international airspace and far way from any Russian territory) when the Su-27 flanked the intelligence gathering jet and then performed an aggressive turn to break-away from it.
On Apr. 7, 2015 another Su-27 flew within 20 feet of an RC-135U, that time over the Baltic Sea.
Noteworthy the Pentagon has recently concluded a flight safety memorandum with Russia after holding a video conference with Russian Defense Ministry Officials: as told by Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook the area of discussion included air safety over skies in Syria as well as “the means to avoid accidents and unitended confrontation between coalition and Russian forces whenever the two sides operate in close proximity.”
The Black Sea encounter was the latest in a series of aggressive Russian military activities aimed coercing or harassing U.S. military aircraft and ships in both Europe and Asia.
Top image: Sukhoi; Bottom image: U.S. Air Force
