Latest aerial encounter occurred near new Russian missile sub
4/28/16 – (Free Beacon) A Russian MiG-31 jet flew within 50 feet of a U.S. surveillance aircraft in Northeast Asia last week, Moscow’s latest aerial saber-rattling against American ships and planes, according to defense officials.
“On April 21, a U.S. Navy P-8 Maritime Patrol reconnaissance aircraft flying a routine mission in international airspace was intercepted by a MiG-31 Russian jet in the vicinity of the Kamchatka Peninsula,” Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the Pacific Command, told the Washington Free Beacon.
A defense official familiar with the MiG-31 intercept said the jet flew within 50 feet of the P-8, a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
The incident took place near the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a port located on the southeastern end of the peninsula.
Kamchatka is Russia’s main military hub in the Pacific and the focus of a buildup of Russian military forces that Moscow has said is intended to match the U.S. military rebalance to Asia.
Several military bases are located there, along with a major naval base. The peninsula is also the main impact range for Russian missile flight tests launched from the central part of the country.
The latest aerial incident involving a Russian jet followed two dangerous encounters over the Baltic Sea last week.
Sputnik News reports:
US officials are complaining of another “unprofessional” flyby by a Russian jet, this time near the Kamchatka peninsula
Earlier this month, the USS Donald Cook, approaching Russian waters in the Baltic Sea, was buzzed by Russian aircraft. Pentagon officials decried the incident, accusing the Russian pilots of performing “unsafe” maneuvers.
Over one week later and over 4,000 miles away, a US surveillance plane, encroaching on Russia’s Pacific border, approached military installations along the Kamchatka Peninsula. Despite Washington’s aggression, US officials again point fingers at the Kremlin.
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160428/1038798675/us-military-russian-mission-creep.html
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