Russian jets ‘aggressively’ pass US warship | World Defense

Russian jets ‘aggressively’ pass US warship

BLACKEAGLE

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Russian jets ‘aggressively’ pass US warship
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An US Navy picture shows what appears to be a Russian Sukhoi SU-24 attack aircraft making a very low pass close to the US guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. (Reuters)

AFP, Reuters Washington/Moscow Thursday, 14 April 2016

A Russian military jet came within a few feet of a US destroyer in international waters in the Baltic Sea during a series of “aggressive” overflights, US officials said Wednesday.

Russian aircraft repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook this week, including an incident Tuesday in which a Russian Su-24 flew just 30 feet (nine meters) above the ship in a “simulated attack profile,” said the US military’s Europe Command (EUCOM).

“We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers,” EUCOM said in a statement.
“These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries and could result in a miscalculation.”
The incidents come at a time of prickly ties between Moscow and Washington over Russian involvement in conflicts in eastern Ukraine and in Syria, and in area of eastern Europe that the Kremlin considers its “backyard.”

EUCOM released video showing warplanes zooming so close past the Cook that one sailor can be heard saying: “He is below the bridge wing,” meaning the plane was flying lower than the highest point of the ship.

A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “This is more aggressive than anything we've seen in some time.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the overflights “entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international waters and international airspace.”

The maneuvers began Monday while the destroyer was located about 70 nautical miles from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave, in international waters.

Two Russian Su-24s flew 20 times past the USS Cook at a distance of less than 1,000 yards and at an altitude of about 100 feet, the official said.

Then on Tuesday, a Russian Ka-27 Helix anti-submarine helicopter flew seven times around the destroyer, taking photographs as it passed.

Shortly after, two Su-24s roared toward the ship, making 11 close-range and low-altitude passes, including one that was “so low it created wake in the water,” the official said. The plane was “wings clean,” meaning it was not visibly armed, he added. US sailors tried multiple times to hail the Russian craft on international frequencies but got no response.

“The Russian aircraft flew in a simulated attack profile and failed to respond to repeated safety advisories in both English and Russian,” EUCOM said.

“USS Donald Cook’s commanding officer deemed several of these maneuvers as unsafe and unprofessional.” A Polish helicopter had been conducting drills on the destroyer and was refueling during one of the overflights.

“As a safety precaution, flight operations were suspended until the Su-24s departed the area,” EUCOM said. The Pentagon periodically decries the risky tactics displayed by Russian pilots.

“There have been repeated incidents over the last year where the Russian military, including Russian military aircraft, have come close enough to each other or have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we continue to be concerned about this behavior,” Earnest said.

Russia's response
The crews of the Russian Su-24bombers which flew near the US guided missile destroyer in theBaltic Sea on Tuesday respected all safety rules, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying on Thursday.

SU-24 planes were conducting test flights and "having observed the ship, turned away in observance of all safety measures," the defence ministry said, adding that the USS Donald Cook was in "operational proximity of the Russian navy's Baltic fleet base."

Last Update: Thursday, 14 April 2016 KSA 12:12 - GMT 09:12
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/04/14/Russian-jets-in-repeated-aggressive-passes-of-US-warship.html
 

Falcon29

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This apparently foiled the planned exercise between Poland and the US. They have to try again now.
 

explorerx7

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Another "show them that we are here' manoeuvre by the Russians. From time to time, both sides will do similar activities but it's nothing but just a bit of flexing of their muscles. When things like these happen the side the receiving end will make some noise about it and then it's back to business as usual.
 

Diane Lane

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I agree, I do think it's an example of Russia flexing its muscle and putting the United States on notice that it's also got a presence in the area, basically the same as any tom cat would mark territory, to ward off potential rivals. It does seem to be closer than other such encounters I've seen mentioned, and seems consistent with Putin's increased aggressiveness.
 

Zepplin

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You have to give it to the Russians, they back their forces personelle up no matter what.

I imagine if this was a US pilot doing it to Russian ships the US response would be "Pilots acted on their own and are being investigated".

I'm sure there are many more close encounters like this that are either not reported or misled.
 

Falcon29

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The US along with NATO are being too aggressive here. They have been increasing naval and ground presence around Russia at a fast rate over the past few years, with plans for more troop/armor deployments in the near future. No wonder Russia feels threatened and wants an explanation to these recent developments. It does appear as if there are plans for military operations against Russia. That could be possibly come following internal instability that NATO seeks to take advantage of.
 

Corzhens

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It seems to me that encounters like that is like a game to US and Russian military men. Like what I had read last night in New York Times (Philippine supplement), there was this encounter between a US warship and a Chinese frigate in the Spratlys as if the Chinese vessel is threatening the US vessel. It's a good thing that there was a Chinese-speaking crew in the US warship who started communicating with the Chinese such as "a good weather we have today" and the Chinese replied with another positive greeting. But the actions were different because the Chinese frigate continued tailing the US warship until it exited from the sea lane.

Everyone is hoping that US and Russia will not clash head on. The atmosphere is like that of the cold war of the 1960s.
 

davidjon

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The US has no business carrying out armed manoeuvres in that part of the world. Poland rightly has a historical animosity towards Russia, but inviting NATO into Putin's backyard is a mistake - a mistake that may very well prove costly in the years to come.
 

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This scenario appears to be an upgraded version of the Cold War. During the Cold War, the media did most of the work but there remains a great distance between the US and Russia. This time around, it's different. They seem to be close enough - in fact, on the same playing field - to intimidate each other.
 

Zepplin

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The US along with NATO are being too aggressive here. They have been increasing naval and ground presence around Russia at a fast rate over the past few years, with plans for more troop/armor deployments in the near future. No wonder Russia feels threatened and wants an explanation to these recent developments. It does appear as if there are plans for military operations against Russia. That could be possibly come following internal instability that NATO seeks to take advantage of.

It's that fine line between looking like you're organising defenses for a possible situtation to looking like you're mobilising to create a situation.
This is one of the arguments why the Trident system works as it does: always at least one submarine out in the oceans.
It may cost money to have them operated when not needed but if they stayed in dock and only launched when needed it looks like a kind of act of aggression and puts peoples backs up.
 
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