Russian fighter jet comes within 15 feet of hitting U.S. plane

Russian fighter jet just barely misses U.S. plane.

(Image credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 January 2016

Russia and the U.S. continue to eye each other warily in the Middle East, where a Russian fighter plane's near collision with an American reconnaissance plane is the latest incident to stir up trouble. According to the Pentagon, a Russian plane flying in an "unsafe" manner came within 15 feet of hitting an American aircraft over the Black Sea last week.

From The Hill:

"On January 25, 2016, a U.S. RC-135U flying a routine route in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner," said Army Lt. Col. Michelle L. Baldanza, a Defense spokeswoman."Aircraft intercepts are not unusual, but are normally routine events. In this case the intercept was not routine, and the Russian pilot acted in an unprofessional manner that put both the American flight crew and himself at risk," she added. "We have addressed our concerns on this matter appropriately." [...] The official did not know if the Russian aircraft was armed at the time and said the incident occurred more than 40 miles from the Russian coast. [The Hill]

There were two similar incidents in 2014, one when a Russian Su-27 came within 100 feet of the U.S. Air Force RC-135U, and another when a Russian aircraft turned to "show its belly" to U.S. crew to show it was armed with missiles.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.