The United States has said a Russian jet flew dangerously close to an American military plane over the Black Sea on Monday, putting its crew at risk.
A US navy EP-3 reconnaissance plane based in Greece was flying in international airspace on Monday when a SU-27 overtook and passed directly in front of it, creating turbulence for the slower turboprop aircraft.
About 25 minutes later, the SU-27 made another close-quarters pass and then banked away while applying the afterburner in its twin engines, which sent vibrations through the EP-3. The US navy said its plane had not provoked these actions and called on Russia to follow international standards to avoid crashes.
“This interaction was irresponsible,” it said in a statement. “Unsafe actions increase the risk of miscalculation and potential for midair collisions.”
Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said the encounter put the US pilots and crew at risk. The two aircraft did not communicate although the navy plane had its transponder on, he said.
Master Sgt. Charles Larkin Sr /US EUROPEAN COMMAND
The Russian defence ministry said it had scrambled the SU-27 to intercept an “unknown air target” approaching its borders, but denied that any risky behaviour.
“The fighter jet reported the identification of the American signals intelligence plane and accompanied it, not allowing it to violate the borders of Russian Federation airspace while following all necessary safety measures,” it said.
Tensions have been running high as Nato holds its largest military exercises since the Cold War in northern Europe, manoeuvres that were largely meant as a response to Russia’s own record-setting military exercises with China in September.
Monday’s encounter was the latest in a string of Russian intercepts that United States called unprofessional. SU-27s flew within five feet of an EP-3 in January and within 20 feet of a P-8 surveillance plane in May. A SU-27 came “within several feet” of another US reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea in June 2017.
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Close encounters between the West and Russia skyrocketed in 2014 amid tensions over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
A report by a London think tank counted 39 military encounters in eight months that year, warning that “more aggressive Russian posturing and the readiness of Western forces to show resolve increases the risk of unintended escalation and the danger of losing control over events”.
In the most hair-raising incident, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft that had reportedly failed to transmit its position nearly collided with an SAS 737 passenger airliner taking off from Copenhagen.
An American EP-3 had to make an emergency landing in Hainan in 2001 after a Chinese J-8 fighter jet crashed into it during an intercept, causing an international dispute. The Chinese jet broke apart and the pilot was killed.