Russian Su-35 risks collision with US Navy aircraft by flying mere feet away

Russian Su-35 risks collision with US Navy aircraft by flying mere feet away Russian Su-35 risks collision with US Navy aircraft by flying mere feet away

WIB airWIB sea May 27, 2020

Russian air interceptors flew impressively close to an American Navy maritime patrol plane yesterday- a risky maneuver that could have resulted in tragedy. While... Russian Su-35 risks collision with US Navy aircraft by flying mere feet away

Russian air interceptors flew impressively close to an American Navy maritime patrol plane yesterday- a risky maneuver that could have resulted in tragedy.

While the incident over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea was pretty neat to see and nothing new in the sense of East-West interceptions, the flight was a little too close for comfort.

The Su-35 Flanker-Es -which were armed to the teeth- were far too close to the Navy’s P-8A by anyone’s standards, and the U.S. Navy made a point to complain about it.

“For the third time in two months, Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while intercepting a U.S. Navy P-8A Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft in U.S. Sixth Fleet, May 26, 2020,” the Navy said in a press release.

“The intercept was determined to be unsafe and unprofessional due to the Russian pilots taking close station on each wing of the P-8A simultaneously, restricting the P-8A’s ability to safely maneuver,” the Navy added, noting that “the unnecessary actions of the Russian Su-35 pilots were inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules, and jeopardized the safety of flight of both aircraft.”

The Russians are known for reckless airmanship, and are second only to the Chinese when it comes to getting too close to US planes. On April 1, 2001, a Chinese J-8 flown by PLAAF Lt. Cdr. Wang Wei collided with a US Navy EP-3 Orion near the Paracel Islands, killing Wang and forcing the Orion to land at a PLA airfield in Hainan. The Americans were detained for ten days before being released, and the capture of the Orion was a massive security disaster for the US.

© 2020 Bright Mountain Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at info@brightmountainmedia.com, ticker BMTM.

If you have any problems viewing this article, please report it here.