US Navy has encounter with Iranian jet

[grey boy 2]

US Navy has encounter with Iranian jet - People's Daily Online

A U.S. military official says the Navy had a close encounter with an Iranian surveillance jet last week in the Gulf of Oman.

The official says the jet buzzed a Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, coming within about 1,000 yards of the ship, the Associated Press reported.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the April 21 incident occurred in international waters.

The jet was described as a maritime patrol aircraft generally used for surveillance.

The official says "there was nothing threatening about the aircraft itself or how it presented itself."

Source: Agencies

 

[ejaz007]

Iranian Plane Buzzes U.S. Carrier in Middle East
By PHILIP EWING
Published: 29 Apr 2010 10:23

An Iranian maritime patrol aircraft buzzed the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower at sea in the Middle East last week, passing within 1,000 yards of the ship, but American defense officials sought to downplay the encounter as relatively common.

The Iranian navy Fokker F27 turboprop reconnaissance plane had been flying near the Eisenhower Strike Group for about 20 minutes before it made its low pass on April 21, according to a defense official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the incident and asked not to be identified. The official did not know if the Eisenhower took any defensive actions, such as changing course or ordering its fighters to escort the intruder away. No one was hurt and the Iranian aircraft soon retired.

The Eisenhower and its escorts had been tracking the Fokker surveillance plane the entire time, the defense official said; it didn't try to pop up from low altitude or surprise them. There was no information about exactly where the encounter took place - for example, in the Persian Gulf or the Gulf of Oman - but the official said it happened in "international waters."

"From our perspective, this is not something to get excited about - this is not out of the ordinary - this is within the bounds of what has happened in the past," the official said.

The date of the fly-by would seem to put it near the start of a series of Iranian naval exercises that took place last week in the Persian Gulf; dubbed Great Prophet 5, the Iranian navy and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps practiced small boat swarms and unveiled a new fast-attack missile craft.

Iranian ships and aircraft approach U.S. warships relatively often, apparently to test how they respond in close proximity. In 2008, Iranian speedboats darted among a formation of three American warships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, which blasted a warning with their horns and went to flank speed to escape.

The U.S. Navy has a long history of sometimes tense encounters at sea, including years' worth of jousting between carrier aircraft and Russian Tu-95 bombers, whose crews liked to get as close as possible to U.S. carriers during the Cold War. When two Russian bombers buzzed the carrier Nimitz in the Pacific in 2008, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said at the time it didn't worry him - "they were stretching their wings, so to speak."

Iranian Plane Buzzes U.S. Carrier in Middle East - Defense News

 

[no_name]

Wouldn't it be not safe to let a potentially hostile aircraft come that close? Even if knowing its not armed a suicide attempt could be made

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

Wouldn't it be not safe to let a potentially hostile aircraft come that close? Even if knowing its not armed a suicide attempt could be made

That's what I worried about. USA-Israel is playing a dangerous game by provoking war.

It is no different than when a BULLY pushes you around. He keeps shoving you, knocking over your books, stealing your money... hoping to extract an reaction from you. He knows he is stronger than you, and so he bullies you.

 

[ramu]

That's what I worried about. USA-Israel is playing a dangerous game by provoking war.

It is no different than when a BULLY pushes you around. He keeps shoving you, knocking over your books, stealing your money... hoping to extract an reaction from you. He knows he is stronger than you, and so he bullies you.

Honest question : Is the "other" super power in Asia any different ?