Photos released Friday show just how close a Russian jet came to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft Monday.
An armed Russian SU-27 buzzed the U.S. RC-135 jet as it was flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The Russian fighter was five feet away from the U.S. aircraft, Fox News reported.
The Russian pilot’s head and helmet can clearly be seen in the photo released by the U.S. European Command.
A Russian fighter jet seen over the wing of a U.S. RC-135 flying in international airspace over the Baltic. (Courtesy photo/Released)
Russian jets sometimes intercept American planes, but in this case, “due to the high rate of closure speed and poor control of the aircraft during the intercept, this interaction was determined to be unsafe,” the U.S. European Command said.
The U.S. has reported similar 35 interactions with Russian aircraft in the past month.
[contentcards url=”http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/23/this-is-how-close-that-russian-jet-got-to-a-us-spy-plane/” target=”_blank”]Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]