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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday September 08 2016, @03:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the because-we-were-inverted dept.

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.

Related: UK Defence Minister: New Cold War "Warming Up"
US Jets Scramble to Intercept Russian Planes near US Aircraft Carrier


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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 08 2016, @07:48PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday September 08 2016, @07:48PM (#399333) Journal

    Don't know if it was a factor in that case, but there is long historical enmity between the Turks and the Russians. Also Erdogan just survived another coup attempt from the army, so playing the strong man a la Putin could well be meant to face that sort of thing down. Maybe a Solentil with better knowledge of internal Turkish politics could say.

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