Heated words continued to be exchanged over the weekend between the United States and Russia in response to yet another aggressive maneuver by the Russian military against the American fleet in the Baltic Sea. Russia has rejected American complaints that a Russian Su-27 did an extremely close barrel role maneuver within fifty feet of an American fighter and flew extremely close to a U.S. naval destroyer late last week.
A spokesman for the U.S. European command stated that the Russian fighter had made, “erratic and aggressive maneuvers”, and that American aircraft were “intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in “an unsafe and unprofessional manner.”
The United States has launched a formal protest with the Russian government but this just continues to be the aggressive tactics currently being employed by the Russian military. The Russian Ministry of Defense countered that the Russian fighter in question was acting properly and in accordance with regulations that govern the use of international airspace. The Russian Defense ministry pointed out that as soon as the American reconnaissance plane was approached by the Su-27, the American plane turned away from the direction in which it had been headed – the Russian border.
The incident occurred only a few days after Russian bombers buzzed an American guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea. Incidents between the Russian and American military have been becoming more frequent over the last several months. Since the Russian military moved into the Ukraine in 2014, tensions have been escalating between the Russians and NATO forces in and around Europe.
The past several weeks has seen the United States move to shore up its military assets in the area. In the past month, the United States has sent F-22’s to England as well as F-15 to both The Netherlands and Iceland in efforts to bolster their presence as a hopeful deterrent to recent Russian military aggression in the area.
PHOTO SOURCES: Reuters, Fox News