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U.S. defense officials say that a Russian fighter jet flew as close as within 3 meters of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft in international airspace:
The Pentagon says a Russian fighter plane flew within about 10ft (3m) of one of its reconnaissance aircraft operating over the Black Sea. US officials described the intercept by the SU-27 jet on Wednesday as "dangerous and unprofessional". Russia's defence ministry said the US plane had been approaching Russian territory and the SU-27 pilots had adhered to international rules. Russia is currently carrying out military exercises in the Black Sea.
Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said the US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft had been conducting routine operations in international airspace when the Russian fighter made the unsafe manoeuvre. "These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident," he said. A US defence official quoted by AFP news agency said the Russian plane had flown within 30ft of the P-8A before closing to just 10ft.
Also at Reuters. You may remember this similar incident.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 08 2016, @07:14PM
They'll keep doing it unless we shoot. The open question is if it's worth all the likely drama to shoot, or just let them buzz around.
It could be good practice for our pilots to chase the buzzers around and fire lots of warning shots.
(Score: 3, Funny) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday September 08 2016, @07:47PM
Just develop a paintball gun that can paint a nearby enemy jet in rainbow colours.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Friday September 09 2016, @03:41AM
Better still, have the american pilot come out as gay, and mention that the Grindr app on his phone started pinging like crazy the closer the MiG got.
Let Putin's anti-gay crusaders take care of the Russian pilot from there.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 1) by FunkyLich on Saturday September 10 2016, @03:38PM
Better still, have the american pilot come out as gay, and mention that the Grindr app on his phone started pinging like crazy the closer the MiG got.
Let Putin's anti-gay crusaders take care of the Russian pilot from there.
No no no. The MiGs are what Tom Cruise was shooting down. These are Su-27 planes. Laughable machines man, I tell you.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday September 08 2016, @11:55PM
Yes I can see it now. America forced to defensively shoot down a Russian fighter in the Black Sea just off Sevastopol, because of Russian "aggression". And Americans see nothing wrong with this.