Russian fighter jet flies five feet from US spy plane
Washington (CNN)A Russian Su-27 fighter jet flew within five feet of a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on Monday over the Baltic Sea, according to a US official, an encounter that was assessed to be "unsafe."
The Russian plane was armed and flew "erratically," the official added, noting that the maneuvers were deemed unsafe due in part to the proximity of the aircraft.
Fox News was first to report the incident.
Meghan Henderson, a spokesperson for European Command (EUCOM), confirmed to CNN that an intercept took place while the US aircraft was "flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea"
"Due to the high rate of closure speed and poor control of the (Russian) aircraft during the intercept, this interaction was determined to be unsafe," she said.
Russia disputed claims that its aircraft was at fault during the encounter and said it intercepted two US reconnaissance aircraft as they "approached the Russian state border."
"When being accompanied, the RC-135 plane made an attempt at approaching the Russian fighter jet making a provocative turn towards it," the ministry said via TASS.
Then, 10 minutes later, a second US RC-135 entered the zone and was also intercepted by the Russian Su-27 jet, the ministry said.
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