Pentagon: Russian Su-27s intercepted US aircraft over the Black Sea
The U.S. reconnaissance aircraft that carried out regular patrol flights over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian fighter jet in a dangerous and unprofessional way, two representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense reported to Reuters. The incident took place between a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and a U.S. R-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that there have been two so-called interactions between the aircraft. One of these interactions was defined as dangerous. “The aircraft carried out maneuvers for 12 hours and had a number of interactions with each other. However, only one of the incidents can be called dangerous,” said the official source who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
U.S. representatives investigated the incident with the Poseidon’s pilot in order to determine whether it will be included in a number of problems to be discussed at the annual meeting with Russian representatives. Several similar incidents involving Russia and the United States took place this year. In April, two Russian military aircraft flew near a U.S. missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea.
These events harkened back to the Cold War when the number of incidents led to the conclusion of the bilateral agreement aimed at preventing dangerous interactions at sea. The bilateral agreement was signed by the then Secretary of the U.S. Navy, John Warner, and Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Sergey Gorshkov, in 1972.