Russian jets conduct 'aggressive' passes of US warship in Baltic Sea, defence official says

[خره مينه لګته وي]

Two Russian warplanes have flown simulated attack passes near a US guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, the US military says, with one official describing the incident as one of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory.

The US military released videos and photos showing Russian Sukhoi SU-24 attack aircraft flying across the bow of the destroyer in the latest of many recent cases the White House said were unsafe and unprofessional.

"There have been repeated incidents over the past year where the Russian military, including Russian military aircraft, have come close enough ... to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns," spokesman Josh Earnest said.

"This incident ... is entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international water and international airspace."

The US military said the action had the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death.

The repeated flights, which also happened near the ship a day earlier, were so close they created wake in the water, with 11 passes, a defence official said.

The planes carried no visible weaponry, the official said.

A Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter also made seven passes around the USS Donald Cook, taking pictures.

The nearest Russian territory was about 70 nautical miles away in its enclave of Kaliningrad, which sits between Lithuania and Poland.

"They tried to raise them [the Russian aircraft] on the radio but they did not answer," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding the US ship was in international waters.

"This is more aggressive than anything we've seen in some time."

PHOTO: Two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft fly over the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea.
(AFP: US Navy handout)


Incidents ignite Cold War memories

The events were reminiscent of the Cold War, when a series of close calls led to a bilateral agreement, signed in 1972, aimed at avoiding dangerous interactions at sea.

The agreement prohibited "simulated attacks against aircraft or ships, performing aerobatics over ships, or dropping hazardous objects near them".

The incident came as NATO plans its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to counter what the alliance, and in particular the three Baltic states and Poland, consider to be a more aggressive Russia.

The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined both NATO and the European Union in 2004, have asked NATO for a permanent presence of battalion-sized deployments of allied troops in each of their territories.

A NATO battalion typically consists of 300 to 800 troops. Moscow denies any intention to attack the Baltic states.

PHOTO: A Russian Kamov KA-27 Helix closely surveils the USS Donald Cook. (AFP: US Navy handout)

The USS Donald Cook had just wrapped up a port visit in the Polish city of Gdynia on April 11 and then proceeded out to sea with a Polish helicopter on board.

The first incident took place on April 11, when two SU-24 jets flew about 20 passes near the Donald Cook, coming within 1,000 metres of the ship, at about 30 metres in altitude.

That was followed by even closer passes by the SU-24s the following day and the passes by the Russian helicopter.

The US military's European Command said in a statement that "US officials are using existing diplomatic channels to address the interactions, while the incidents are also being reviewed through US Navy channels".


Source : ABC

 

[T-72M1]

the Donald Cook again ?

 

[T-72M1]

USN released pictures, this was close

 

[Penguin]

Such antics are not new. However, they are not without risk, not in the last place to the jets themselves, as this example from 1968 shows (Tu-16 commanded by A.Pliyev flying by the USS Essex just 15 meters above the sea and then crashes into the Norwegian Sea on May 25 1968).

 

[Penguin]

Russia has dismissed criticism that its jets 'aggressively' buzzed a US warship in the Baltic Sea and said its pilots had observed all the required safety measures.
The Russian defense ministry today said its Su-24 planes were conducting test flights and claimed the USS Donald Cook was in 'operational proximity of the Russian navy's Baltic fleet base' as the reason for the flypast.
The ministry said its aircraft observed the ship and then 'turned away in observance of all safety measures'.

On Tuesday evening the Russian planes thundered over the US destroyer at a height of just 30ft in what a military official branded the most 'aggressive' incident between Russia and the United States in years.
The 'simulated attack' maneuver saw the jets pass so close to the ocean that they created a 'wake in the water', the defense official said.
The shock move came as a Polish helicopter was taking off from the US warship on Tuesday evening.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ht-just-30-FEET-defense-official-reveals.html

Please note the following, from existing thread https://defence.pk/threads/russian-warplanes-buzz-u-s-navy-destroyer-polish-helicopter.426697/

Russian fighter jets overflew a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea more than 30 times earlier this week, with one pass at 30 feet from the ship causing a wake in the waters nearby
"These were very low simulated attack profiles, came within 30 feet of the ship, under 100 feet in altitude," said the official, noting that "the reports were that it was creating wake in the water it was so close.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-donald-cook-buzzed-again-by-russian-jets-in-baltic/

Well, I don't see any footage of NATO jets repeatedly buzzing any Russian ships....

the Donald Cook again ?

Ye. And the Ross also got buzzed

 

[mike2000 is back]

Interesting, its good to see Russia teasserting itself and expanding its influence and aggression. This way other passive European countries who have all but left NATO's defence on the shoulders of the U.S, U.K and France will finally wake up and take thibgs serious before its too late.
WE NEVER KNOW WHEN A WAR MIGHT ERUPT. Wars always start unexpectedly when you least expect them.
So better ready than sorry.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Pilot wanted to make sure the Burger order was heard correctly when he flew by the Mcdonald's windows

 

[Penguin]

Interesting, its good to see Russia teasserting itself and expanding its influence and aggression. This way other passive European countries who have all but left NATO's defence on the shoulders of the U.S, U.K and France will finally wake up and take thibgs serious before its too late.
WE NEVER KNOW WHEN A WAR MIGHT ERUPT. Wars always start unexpectedly when you least expect them.
So better ready than sorry.

This is not reasserting itself, this is just dumb. Like the man said:

“We are assessing the event in light of the commanding officer’s assessment that the interactions were unprofessional and unsafe,” said Adm. Mark Ferguson, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe.

 

[Penguin]

Agreement Between the Government of The United States of America and the Government of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High Seas

Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
Signed at Moscow May 25, 1972
Entered into force May 25, 1972

Narrative

In the late 1960s, there were several incidents between forces of the U.S. Navy and the Soviet Navy. These included planes of the two nations passing near one another, ships bumping one another, and both ships and aircraft making threatening movements against those of the other side. In March 1968 the United States proposed talks on preventing such incidents from becoming more serious. The Soviet Union accepted the invitation in November 1970, and the talks were conducted in two rounds -- October 1, 1971, in Moscow and May 17, 1972, in Washington, D.C. The Agreement was signed by Secretary of the Navy John Warner and Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov during the Moscow summit meeting in 1972.

Specifically, the agreement provides for:

• steps to avoid collision;

• not interfering in the "formations" of the other party;
• avoiding maneuvers in areas of heavy sea traffic;
• requiring surveillance ships to maintain a safe distance from the object of investigation so as to avoid "embarrassing or endangering the ships under surveillance";
• using accepted international signals when ships maneuver near one another;
• not simulating attacks at, launching objects toward, or illuminating the bridges of the other partys ships;
• informing vessels when submarines are exercising near them; and
• requiring aircraft commanders to use the greatest caution and prudence in approaching aircraft and ships of the other party and not permitting simulated attacks against aircraft or ships, performing aerobatics over ships, or dropping hazardous objects near them.

The agreement also provides for: (1) notice three to five days in advance, as a rule, of any projected actions that might "represent a danger to navigation or to aircraft in flight"; (2) information on incidents to be channeled through naval attaches assigned to the respective capitals; and (3) annual meetings to review the implementation of the Agreement.

The protocol to this agreement grew out of the first meeting of the Consultative Committee established by the agreement. Each side recognized that its effectiveness could be enhanced by additional understandings relating to nonmilitary vessels. In the protocol signed in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 1973, each party pledged not to make simulated attacks against the nonmilitary ships of the other.

Like other confidence-building measures, the Incidents at Sea Agreement does not directly affect the size, weaponry, or force structure of the parties. Rather, it serves to enhance mutual knowledge and understanding of military activities; to reduce the possibility of conflict by accident, miscalculation, or the failure of communication; and to increase stability in times of both calm and crisis. In 1983, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman cited the accord as "a good example of functional navy-to-navy process" and credited this area of Soviet-American relations with "getting better rather than worse." In 1985, he observed that the frequency of incidents was "way down from what it was in the 1960s and early 1970s."

http://www.state.gov/t/isn/4791.htm