Armed Russian jet buzzed US spy plane: Pentagon
Russian Su-27 approached the U.S. Air Force aircraft flying on a routine mission in international airspace over the Sea of Okhotsk. Thu Jun 5, 2014 12:42PM GMT An armed Russian fighter jet buzzed dangerously close to a US military spy plane in late April, triggering private US protests to Moscow, the Pentagon said. The incident took place on April 23, when a Russian Su-27 Flanker flew within 100 feet of the US Air Force RC-135U aircraft flying on a routine mission over the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said on Wednesday. The Russian fighter jet intercepted the US reconnaissance jet without a radio communication and rolled to expose its missiles to the American crew, Warren said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey both “communicated our concerns over that incident directly to the Russian military,” he added. Earlier in April, US officials said a Russian fighter jet made multiple low-altitude passes over the USS Donald Cook destroyer in the Black Sea. The Pentagon called the action “provocative and unprofessional.” On April 28, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his American counterpart, Secretary Hagel, had discussed both incidents during a phone call that day. A Pentagon readout of that call never mentioned the fly-bys. The incidents came against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine. HRJ/HRJ http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/06/05/365667/armed-russian-jet-buzzed-us-plane/
