Russia intercepted an American fighter: the US accused her of an 'irresponsible' maneuver

Russian Su-35, having conducted a "dangerous" rapprochement, intercepted the American patrol aircraft P-8A Poseidon over the Mediterranean Sea, writes CNN.

Photo: Shutterstock

The U.S. Armed Forces accused the crew of the Russian fighter plane that they endangered the life of the crew of the U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft on April 15, performing a dangerous inverted maneuver at high speed during an unsafe interception over the Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. Air Force Space Command said Moscow had tested an anti-satellite missile on the same day.

U.S. Navy officials said a Russian SU-35 multi-role fighter jet made an “unsafe” interception of a U.S. P-8 spy plane as it flew in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea. “We determined the encounter was unsafe because the Su-35 maneuvered at high speed, belly-up, 25 feet directly ahead of the mission aircraft,” the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet said in a statement. — The R-8A crew reported a turbulent plume following the approach. The duration of the interception was approximately 42 minutes. Such a rapprochement was irresponsible."

The United States has previously accused Russia of similarly dangerous interceptions of U.S. reconnaissance aircraft, including cases over the Mediterranean Sea, but this has rarely happened in recent years. A similar incident occurred in June 2019, when a Russian fighter intercepted an American R-8 several times.

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On the same day, April 15, according to the US Space Command, Russia conducted an anti-satellite missile test.

“U.S. Space Command was aware of and monitored the Direct Assault Satellite Interception (DA-ASAT) test on April 15,” the command said. The head of the Aerospace Forces added that “The Russian missile system is capable of destroying satellites in low orbit.”

“These tests once again confirm that the threat to the space systems of the United States and its allies is real, serious and growing,” concluded General John Raymond, the first commander in chief of the US Space Force.

The latest Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons were named one of the reasons why the US needed to create a separate military vertical focused on space. US satellites play a crucial role in everything from navigation, intelligence gathering, including monitoring the DPRK's nuclear weapons program, and the military activity of Russia and China. Therefore, concern about the growing power of Beijing and Moscow, as well as the threat to satellites, is growing every day.

The space command said that the last test was carried out immediately after the Russian orbital test of the COSMOS 2542 and COSMOS 2543 devices, which the United States informed about in February.

The statement said that “the activity of these two satellites was reminiscent of previous Russian spacecraft that demonstrated the characteristics of space weapons. In this case, both Russian vehicles maneuvered near a US government satellite while in orbit, which could be “considered irresponsible and potentially threatening behavior.”

Nevertheless, despite the growing tension between the countries, the United States and Russia were eventually able to find a common language in resolving the problem thanks to NASA astronaut, who joined two Russian colleagues during a mission to the International Space Station earlier this month.

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