Pentagon Claims Russian Jet Barrel Roll over Another US Air Force Plane
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Russian fighter jet pulled an “unsafe” stunt within 25 feet of a US surveillance plane Friday, US Defense Department officials said.
Russian Admiral Vladimir Komoedov, however, denied any potential harm, wondering why the US was there in the first place.
A Russian Sukhoi Su-27 and a US Air Force RC-135 were in international airspace when the former performed a barrel roll over the latter, Pentagon officials said. While initial reports held that the intercept occurred within 100 feet, the US Defense Department updated that to 25 feet.
This unsafe and unprofessional air intercept has the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all aircrews involved," Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement. "More importantly, the unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries."
Word for word, that same part of the Pentagon’s statement has been used recently under similar circumstances. Fifteen days prior to this incident, April 14, another Su-27 fighter jet conducted a barrel roll over another US reconnaissance plane, and between April 11 and 12, the USS Donald Cook ship was flown over by Su-27 fighter jets, with the Pentagon releasing footage.
“It was neither a buzz, nor a simulated attack, thus everything is fine. It was not a dangerous maneuver,” the head of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee and former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Admiral Vladimir Komoedov told Interfax, a non-governmental Russian news station, Russia Today reported.
“Why do they even fly here and provoke Russia? I mean, guys, let’s live in peace, do not provoke Russia into actions you would then ventilate in the press.”
After the April 14 incident, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "We condemn this kind of behavior. It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous."
At the time, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said, "The reports of foreign media saying that a Russian Su-27 allegedly flew in dangerously close proximity to a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the skies over the Baltic Sea on April 14 are not true."
