RTTue, 28 Nov 2017 18:53 UTC
© SputnikA Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet
Russia has scrambled a Su-30 fighter jet after detecting an American Р8А Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, according to a Defense Ministry statement. The US spy plane was approaching at high speed to the Russian border, it said.The Russian fighter jet buzzed the US Navy reconnaissance plane at around 1pm local time (10:00 GMT) as it was flying over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, the ministry said."After moving closer, the Russian [Su-30] fighter jet flew over the object and visually identified it as an American reconnaissance aircraft Р8А Poseidon," the statement reads.
After the spy plane was intercepted by the Russian Air Force, the US aircraft changed course and flew away.In October, the commander in charge of Russia's Air Force in the Southern Military District, General Viktor Sevostyanov, revealed that US military drones, primarily Global Hawks, conducted over 100 reconnaissance missions in the Black Sea region this year.
The main routes of the spy planes lie near the Crimean Peninsula and the aircraft fly only 10-15km away from the border.It is not the first time that Russia has had to scramble its aircraft in response to foreign planes detected near its borders. In June, a Russian Su-27 jet warded off a NATO F-16 fighter jet as it closed in on a plane carrying Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu en route to the western Russian province of Kaliningrad. Prior to that, a US RC-135 spy plane flying over the Baltic Sea made a "provocative turn" toward a Russian Su-27 jet, which had been
scrambled for an intercept mission.
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In typical fashion, the Pentagon
reported that 'the Russian jet made "unsafe" contact with the Navy reconnaissance aircraft. The Russian Su-30 fighter jet
reportedly flew right around 50 feet in front of the P-8A Poseidon,
resulting in the American craft experiencing "a 15-degree roll and violent turbulence," CNN reported.' According to
another U.S. official, 'the Russian jet was "provocative" in its flight maneuvers and flying "erratically"'. How dare those dastardly Russians. Perhaps
this might have something to do with it:
Speaking to Sputnik about the incident, Vladimir Kozin, a professor at the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, said it was worth noting, for context' sake, that the US has been actively engaged in aerial espionage missions all along Russia's borders recently. "According to authoritative military sources, US intelligence-gathering activities on our borders have increased ten-fold in recent years," he observed.
...
Regarding the Pentagon's claims about "unsafe" Russian "behavior," Kozin suggested that all of this was just "noise."
"There were no dangerous interceptions, and will not be any. Our pilots are responsible people, and understand that any dangerous interception can end badly for both sides. Therefore, instead of raising all this noise, the US military should just stop its provocative flights near our territory," the expert said.
"Reconnaissance [by specialized aircraft like the P-8A] may be interpreted by our military as part of preparations for possible military operations, because military aviation doesn't just fly around for no reason. This was not just some civilian drone monitoring road traffic or crop conditions," Kozin warned.
As for what the Pentagon might to do to avoid similar incidents in the future, it's simple, the academic insisted: if the US stops its reconnaissance flights near Russia's borders, the Russian Aerospace Forces will stop their intercepts. "Earlier, when the US didn't engage in these shenanigans, there were no interceptions," he noted.
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