Photo - US Navy
Two Sukhoi SU-24 Russian Air Force flew "dangerously close" to a destroyer of the US Navy, the low-flying were performed numerous times in the Baltic Sea, according to US officials. Some officials of the US military area described the act as the highest risk of meetings between the armed forces of the two countries in recent years.
The SU-24 unarmed fighters performed about 11 flights at low altitude in this Wednesday, April 13, near the military ship of the US Navy USS Donald Cook. The main suspect of the US Navy at the moment is a US Navy surveillance training at sea, according to a statement from the US Department of Defense. In addition, a Russian helicopter KA-27 Helix name made seven circles around the ship on Tuesday.
"We have many concerns about unsafe maneuvers and unprofessional of the Russian Air Force.These actions have the potential to unnecessarily increase tensions between the countries and could result in a calculation error or accident which could cause serious injury or death, "said the US command.
Such meetings between the US and the Russian military during the Cold War led to a bilateral agreement in 1972, signed by then Secretary of the Navy John Warner, and the Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, which sought to prevent dangerous interactions in the international in March
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov was quoted as said the Russian Air Force strictly follows all international rules to fly over neutral water. But, he added, "The freedom of the seas for the USS Donald Cook does not nullify the freedom of the air to the Russian aircraft" . And yet complemented with the following statement, "To be honest, we do not understand such a painful reaction of our American colleagues."
