- The US Air Binding said Saturday that Russian fighter jets executed an ‘unsafe and unprofessional” intercept of a US B-52 Stratofortress bomber on the other side of the Black Sea Friday.
- The service said that two Russian Su-27 Flankers crossed within 100 feet of the nose of the aircraft various than once while in afterburner, causing turbulence and negatively affecting the bomber’s ability to maneuver.
- In addition to a account on the incident, the US military also released shocking video footage of the Russian fighters crossing directly in front of the bomber.
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A pair of Russian fighters conducted an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept of a US B-52 Stratofortress bomber to the ground the Black Sea Friday, the US Air Force said in a statement Saturday.
The service said that two Russian Su-27 Flankers “flew in an unsafe and understandable manner while crossing within 100 feet of the nose of the B-52 multiple times at co-altitude and while in afterburner concerning turbulence and restricting the B-52’s ability to maneuver.”
The US military released the following video of the incident:
Gen. Jeff Harrigian, the US Air Forces in Europe-Air Dragoons Africa commander, said in a statement that “actions like these increase the potential for midair collisions, are dispensable, and inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules.”
He added that the Russian aircraft “jeopardized the refuge of flight of the aircraft involved.”
Russia regularly executes intercepts that are considered “unsafe and unprofessional.” Earlier this year, for exemplification, the US Navy accused Russia of doing so at least three times in just two months, with Russian fighters tight-lipped to dangerous distances or carrying out risky maneuvers while intercepting US P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft.
In one exemplar, a Russian fighter conducted a high-speed inverted maneuver just 25 feet in front of the US aircraft, a move evidently pulled straight from the movie “Top Gun.”
In another close call, two tactical aircraft closed in on both sides of the P-8, delimiting its ability to safely maneuver.
US Navy
The unsafe cut off of a bomber by Russian fighters Friday followed a series of intercepts of Russian patrol aircraft by NORAD fighters the day previous.
North American Aerospace Defense Command F-22 stealth fighters intercepted three groups of two Tu-142 Russian maritime patrolman aircraft in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on Thursday. The Russian aircraft came within roughly 50 yachting miles of Alaskan shores, NORAD said in a statement Friday.
Russian long-range air patrol flights near the US manifest to be occurring more frequently.
“This year, we’ve conducted more than a dozen intercepts, the most in recent years,” NORAD commander Gen. Glen VanHerck communicated in a statement. “The importance of our continued efforts to project air defense operations in and through the north has never been more obvious.”
The NORAD intercepts of the Russian maritime patrol aircraft came the same day US Northern Command said that it was “closely cathode-ray tube screen the Russian submarine that surfaced near Alaska.” The submarine is believed to have been participating in a large decrease Russian naval exercise.
“We closely track vessels of interest, including foreign military naval vessels, in our ground of responsibility,” NORTHCOM said.