Russian Jet Nearly Collides with U.S. Surveillance Aircraft
(Free Beacon / Worthy News)– A Russian Su-27 jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Pacific northeast recently in an aerial clash not seen since the Cold War.
An Air Force RC-135 electronic intelligence jet was flying a surveillance run some 60 miles off the Russian Far East coast, north of Japan, on April 23 when the incident occurred, according to defense officials familiar with the incident.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren said the Su-27 intercepted the RC-135U as it conducted a routine surveillance mission in international airspace over the Sea of Okhotsk during the afternoon of April 23.
“The Su-27 approached the RC-135U and crossed the nose of the U.S. aircraft within approximately 100 feet,” Warren told the Free Beacon in a brief statement. “Senior department leaders have communicated our concerns directly to the Russian military.”
Disclosure of the U.S.-Russian aerial face off comes as the Obama administration last week approved Russia’s use of upgraded sensors on aircraft used to overfly sensitive U.S. and allied military installations in Europe under the 1992 Open Skies Treaty.
The treaty permits flights using four types of sensors: optical panoramic and framing cameras, video cameras with real-time display, infrared line-scanning devices, and sideways-looking synthetic aperture radar.