In what may be the latest military provocation enacted against the U.S. military, a Russian Su-27 jet fighter came within 20 feet of a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, according to U.S. Navy officials.
Navy Capt. Daniel Hernandez, chief spokesman for the U.S.-European Comman, spoke to The Washington Free Beacon about Monday's incident, saying, "On Jan. 25 an RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner."
Defense officials went into further detail about the incident, saying that the RC-135, an electronic intelligence-gathering aircraft, had been flying 30 miles from the coast, well within international airspace and far away from Russian airspace at the time of the encounter.
The Su-27, catching sight of the RC-135, flew alongside it for a few moments before making an aggressive banking turn away from the intelligence aircraft, which "disturbed the controllability."
"We are looking into the issue," Hernandez concluded, declining to discuss the status of the disturbed aircraft.
News of the close call is the latest in a series of Russian military activities that experts claim are aimed at coercing or harassing the U.S. military. In October, four F/A-18 fighter jets were deployed to intercept two Russian Tu-142 Bear aircraft that were flying near the USS Ronald Reagan while it was participating in a training exercises with South Korea in the Pacific Ocean, according to CNN.
That incident was preceded by a July 4 encounter when U.S. fighter jets intercepted Russian fighters off the coasts of California and Alaska. At the time, the Russian fliers claimed that they came close to U.S. shores to wish America a happy Fourth of July.
Such incidents have been on the rise over the past two years, and experts have since concluded that the purpose of Russia's actions is to show off its military prowess.
"Much of what Russia is doing today is aimed at generating fear of Russian military power and the possibility of war," former Pentagon Russia expert Mark Schneider said back in October.
"That is broadcast on a daily basis in the state media and through Russian military actions," Schneider added. "Provocations involving aircraft are now common place. Russia also tends to be paranoid concerning foreign espionage and the protection of state secrets."
The U.S. also recently revoked the credentials of five of six honorary Russian consuls, claiming that the country had been harassing U.S. diplomats.
"This action is being taken in response to continued Russian interference with our diplomatic and consular operations in Russia, including, but not limited to, widespread harassment of our personnel, as well as the forced closure of the American Center in Moscow," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, according to Reuters.
"We are prepared to take further appropriate measures if there are additional efforts to impede our diplomatic and consular activities in Russia," he added.
These incidents highlight a larger problem between the two nations: deteriorating diplomatic ties. While not nearly as bad as the Cold War, relations between the two have grown increasingly frigid, with the two only cooperating on certain issues, such as the curbing of Iran's nuclear program or a memorandum on activities in Syrian airspace. Things have reached a point where the U.S. has imposed a number of sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia figures, primarily due to the Ukrainian conflict, and Russia has imposed sanctions of their own in return.
