In what feels like more of history repeating itself from the Cold War, a Russian fighter jet repeatedly passed too close to the warship USS Donald Cook. Via Yahoo! News:
A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.
In the first public account of the incident, the officials said the Russian Fencer made 12 passes, and flew within 1,000 yards of the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, at about 500 feet above sea level.
The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.
That feels like something out of that movie Air Force One with rogue Russians doing insane things that only film versions of Russians do, but instead this is real and pretty stressful. Last thing anyone wants is a war with Russia, except for maybe Russia.
“This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident. A second Russian fighter jet flew at a higher altitude and was not a concern, said Warren.
The fighter jet was unarmed, so I’m guessing this is just an intimidation technique seeing as you don’t bring an unarmed fighter jet to a warship fight. I mean, that’s just common sense in a battle, right?
(Via Yahoo! News)