A Russian fighter jet harassed a U.S. Air Force surveillance aircraft over the Baltic Sea last week, conducting a dangerous maneuver that came within 50 feet of the American aircraft's wings, a defense official said.
The latest in a series of dangerous incidents involving Russia military aircraft, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was conducting a "routine mission" in international air space when it was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
"The Su-27 closed within 50 feet of the wing tip of the RC-135, conducted a barrel role from the left side of the aircraft, over the top of the aircraft and ended up on the right side of the aircraft," Davis said.
The RC-135 is an advanced surveillance aircraft that may have been gathering intelligence about the Russian military installations in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, along the Baltic Sea coast between Poland and Lithuania.
"This unsafe and unprofessional air intercept had the potential to cause serious harm and injury to air crews and the unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between the two countries," Davis said.
The incident came just two days after a Russian jet conducted "simulated attacks" on the a U.S. Navy vessel in the Baltic Sea. In that April 12 incident, the Russian Su-34 repeatedly flew within 30 feet of the ship, the guided-missile destroyer Donald Cook.
Andrew Tilghman is the executive editor for Military Times. He is a former Military Times Pentagon reporter and served as a Middle East correspondent for the Stars and Stripes. Before covering the military, he worked as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle in Texas, the Albany Times Union in New York and The Associated Press in Milwaukee.
