MOSCOW — A Russian fighter jet got too close for comfort when it intercepted a U.S. Navy spy plane over the Black Sea yesterday.
U.S. defense officials labeled the move “unsafe and unprofessional”, and warned the 19-minute long incident could escalate tensions between the two countries, ABC News reported.
The U.S. and Russia are at loggerheads over Syria and the Ukraine and this latest flashpoint suggests they’re unlikely to be on good terms anytime soon.
The U.S. Navy P-8A spy plane was buzzed by a Russian SU-27 “Flanker-B” fighter jet as it flew in international airspace over the Black Sea.
At first the Russian jet maintained a distance of about 30 feet but it then passed within 10 feet of the U.S. plane, and that’s what got U.S. military chiefs so pissed.
The U.S. pilot tried to contact the Russian jet but got no response, U.S. defense officials said.
Russian defense officials admitted sending fighter jets to intercept the U.S. plane, Reuters reported.
They claim the U.S. aircraft was close to the Russian border and had turned off its transponders, which are needed to ID the plane.
