A Su-27 Russian fighter jet has chased off a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace heading ever-so-close to the Russian border, as military tensions between Washington and Moscow grow.
Press TV: The intercept of the US military aircraft was conducted so close by the Russian warplane that they nearly collided with each other.The incident happened on Tuesday.
They were only 20 feet apart, according to the Pentagon.
Apparently, the incident has prompted diplomatic protest by the US with Pentagon Spokeswoman Eileen M. Lainaz calling the interception unsafe and unprofessional.
Russia replied swiftly to those comments. “As to the professional qualities of our pilots, this is something for the Russian military command to assess,” Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Maj.-General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.
Konashenkov added that “as to the professional qualities of our pilots, this is something for the Russian military command to assess.”
He slammed the intervention by the US military saying that US spy planes “are supposed to fly along US borders only and nowhere else”.
The US spy plane was “making steady progress towards the Russian border from the Baltic Sea” and it was operating without its signal transponders on, an inappropriate condition for the reconnaissance plane in international airspace to be in.
This specific incident came ahead of a planned nearly one-month military drill by the US sea, air, and land forces in Europe which Russia warned was “an unprecedentedly dangerous step" at its front door.
Lately, tensions between Russia and the US, especially military tensions, have been at high levels, not seen since the end of the Cold War in 1991.
This is mainly because of the crisis in Ukraine where the US along with its Western allies including EU members in the continent Europe took sides with the government of Ukraine who Russia believes is the result of a Western coupe d’etat on the country in 2014.
Moscow, ever since then, has been supporting Ukrainian rebel fighters in the east against what it calls “savage crimes by the Ukrainian government supported by the US and the West against the people of Ukraine”.
Source
“On the morning of April 7, a US RC-135U, flying a routine route in international airspace, was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” the Washington Free Beacon (WFB) cited Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen M. Lainez as saying.
“The United States is raising this incident with Russia in the appropriate diplomatic and official channels,” she added.
The official said that a Russian Su-27 (NATO designation – Flanker) passed within a half-dozen meters of the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, whereas the Sukhoi’s wingspan is 14.7 meters. The Pentagon spokeswoman dubbed the behavior of Russian pilot “reckless” and endangering the safety of the RC-135 crew.
Major-General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that the interception was launched after “Russian air defense radars spotted an unidentified air target over the Baltic Sea making steady progress toward the national border.” The aircraft had its transponder turned off, Konashenkov said.
However, Flightradar24 website says the transponder was on.
The Sukhoi Su-27 dispatched to intercept the target identified it as a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft RC-135U and reported the aircraft’s type and tail number to headquarters. After the Su-27 made several fly-bys around the spy plane, the RC-135U altered course and moved away from Russian border.
“No emergency situation was reported during the fly-by of the American reconnaissance aircraft,” Konashenkov said.
The RC-135 is a military version of a Boeing-707 and the intercepted RC-135U version is code-named Combat Sent, specializing in gathering intelligence on “enemy electronic signals and radar emitters.”
No details have been released on the mission of the RC-135, but the aircraft was reportedly in a position to monitor Russian military activities in western Russia and Kaliningrad.
It is in the Kaliningrad exclave where Moscow recently decided to deploy Iskander-M nuclear capable tactical quasi-ballistic missile systems.
The head of Russia’s Upper House Committee for Foreign Relations, Konstantin Kosachev, called on to NATO to stop their “hysterics” over flights by the Russian Air Force, “presenting them as aggression and demonizing Russia.”
“In connection with the incident over the Baltic one should keep in mind that Russia is a Baltic country, whereas the US is not,” Kosachev said.
On Tuesday, the same day that the incident with the RC-135U took place, the commander of the US Northern Command, Adm. William Gortney, expressed concern at the increase in Russian military flights.
“They are messaging us,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. “They’re messaging us that they’re a global power - we do the same sort of thing - with their long-range aviation,” Gortney said, noting that Moscow has adopted a new strategic doctrine.
NATO has recently been engaged in a massive military buildup along Russia’s western borders as part of its Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Russia has slammed the spike in NATO military activity in the Baltic States as “unprecedented and dangerous.”
Source
Press TV: The intercept of the US military aircraft was conducted so close by the Russian warplane that they nearly collided with each other.The incident happened on Tuesday. They were only 20 feet apart, according to the Pentagon.
Apparently, the incident has prompted diplomatic protest by the US with Pentagon Spokeswoman Eileen M. Lainaz calling the interception unsafe and unprofessional.
Russia replied swiftly to those comments. “As to the professional qualities of our pilots, this is something for the Russian military command to assess,” Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Maj.-General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.
Konashenkov added that “as to the professional qualities of our pilots, this is something for the Russian military command to assess.”
He slammed the intervention by the US military saying that US spy planes “are supposed to fly along US borders only and nowhere else”.
The US spy plane was “making steady progress towards the Russian border from the Baltic Sea” and it was operating without its signal transponders on, an inappropriate condition for the reconnaissance plane in international airspace to be in.
This specific incident came ahead of a planned nearly one-month military drill by the US sea, air, and land forces in Europe which Russia warned was “an unprecedentedly dangerous step" at its front door.
Lately, tensions between Russia and the US, especially military tensions, have been at high levels, not seen since the end of the Cold War in 1991.
This is mainly because of the crisis in Ukraine where the US along with its Western allies including EU members in the continent Europe took sides with the government of Ukraine who Russia believes is the result of a Western coupe d’etat on the country in 2014.
Moscow, ever since then, has been supporting Ukrainian rebel fighters in the east against what it calls “savage crimes by the Ukrainian government supported by the US and the West against the people of Ukraine”.
Source
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US recon aircraft intercepted by Russian fighter jet over Baltic - Pentagon
RT: An American RC-135U reconnaissance aircraft was buzzed by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet over the Baltic Sea near Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, according to the Pentagon, which accused the Russian pilot of coming dangerously close to the US aircraft.“On the morning of April 7, a US RC-135U, flying a routine route in international airspace, was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” the Washington Free Beacon (WFB) cited Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen M. Lainez as saying.
“The United States is raising this incident with Russia in the appropriate diplomatic and official channels,” she added.
The official said that a Russian Su-27 (NATO designation – Flanker) passed within a half-dozen meters of the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, whereas the Sukhoi’s wingspan is 14.7 meters. The Pentagon spokeswoman dubbed the behavior of Russian pilot “reckless” and endangering the safety of the RC-135 crew.
Major-General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that the interception was launched after “Russian air defense radars spotted an unidentified air target over the Baltic Sea making steady progress toward the national border.” The aircraft had its transponder turned off, Konashenkov said.
However, Flightradar24 website says the transponder was on.
The Sukhoi Su-27 dispatched to intercept the target identified it as a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft RC-135U and reported the aircraft’s type and tail number to headquarters. After the Su-27 made several fly-bys around the spy plane, the RC-135U altered course and moved away from Russian border.
“No emergency situation was reported during the fly-by of the American reconnaissance aircraft,” Konashenkov said.
The RC-135 is a military version of a Boeing-707 and the intercepted RC-135U version is code-named Combat Sent, specializing in gathering intelligence on “enemy electronic signals and radar emitters.”
No details have been released on the mission of the RC-135, but the aircraft was reportedly in a position to monitor Russian military activities in western Russia and Kaliningrad.
It is in the Kaliningrad exclave where Moscow recently decided to deploy Iskander-M nuclear capable tactical quasi-ballistic missile systems.
The head of Russia’s Upper House Committee for Foreign Relations, Konstantin Kosachev, called on to NATO to stop their “hysterics” over flights by the Russian Air Force, “presenting them as aggression and demonizing Russia.”
“In connection with the incident over the Baltic one should keep in mind that Russia is a Baltic country, whereas the US is not,” Kosachev said.
On Tuesday, the same day that the incident with the RC-135U took place, the commander of the US Northern Command, Adm. William Gortney, expressed concern at the increase in Russian military flights.
“They are messaging us,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. “They’re messaging us that they’re a global power - we do the same sort of thing - with their long-range aviation,” Gortney said, noting that Moscow has adopted a new strategic doctrine.
NATO has recently been engaged in a massive military buildup along Russia’s western borders as part of its Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Russia has slammed the spike in NATO military activity in the Baltic States as “unprecedented and dangerous.”
Source
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