MOSCOW-Russia’s Su-27 fighter has flown close to another US Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane in the Black Sea in a second similar incident this week, Fox News reported on Saturday night citing a US defense official.
The incident occurred on Friday morning in the northern section of the Black Sea, about 160 kilometers from Russia’s Crimean Peninsula.
The Pentagon has stepped up its reconnaissance flights in the Black Sea since Crimea voted to rejoin Russia in 2014.
In a previous similar incident that took place on Tuesday, an armed Russian Su-30 jet flew within the distance of seven meters of the US P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane.
The US aircraft “was conducting routine operations in international airspace,” according to Captain Pamela Kunze, a spokeswoman for US Naval Forces Europe.
The interaction was considered safe and professional by the US aircraft’s commander, she said.
At noon on May 9, Russia’s airspace control means detected an air target over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, which was approaching the state border of Russia.
“The Su-30 fighter jet of the air defense forces on duty in the Southern military district was scrambled to intercept the target,” the ministry said.
“The Russian fighter jet performed a maneuver of ‘greeting’ for the US pilots and after that the US surveillance plane changed the flight route towards moving from the border with Russia. The Su-30 fighter jet safely returned to its base airfield,” the ministry said.
