Russian Su-24 aircraft Has Close Encounter With US Warship

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Su-24 aircraft

The U.S. Navy has released a video showing a close encounter between one of her destroyers and a Russian Su-24 aircraft.

The video released on YouTube shows a Russian Su-24 flying past the guided missile destroyer USS Ross, 25 miles off the coast of Crimea in the Black Sea.
The U.S. Naval Forces Europe released the video on Monday which shows the Russian plane flying an estimated 500 meters (1,640 feet) off the side of the ship at an altitude of 600 feet.
The Ross was in international waters at the time when it encountered a total of six Su-24s that flew past.

Contrary to Russian claims, the warship is said to have acted routinely and was not driven off by the encounter. The video shows one of the Su-24 warplanes approaching from a distance and flying past the right side of the destroyer.
The release of the video aims to prove the encounter happened in ‘international waters’ and was ‘routine’.

CNN reports:

The Ross was 25 miles off the coast of Crimea in international waters when six Russian Su-24s went by.

The Russian aircraft were not armed, according to a U.S. defense official, and the entire matter was considered routine.

Russian media claimed that the planes forced the warship to head away from Russian territorial waters. But the U.S. Navy said the Ross never changed course and proceeded on its mission, which was in international waters.

In a video released by U.S. Naval Forces Europe, one of the Russian planes is shown flying an estimated 500 meters (1,640 feet) off the side of the ship at an altitude of 600 feet.

The Navy said it would not have released the video if it didn’t want to publicly counter the Russian reports.

The incident comes as Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned about the danger of a summer offensive by pro-Russian separatists, who have seized Crimea from Ukraine.

“We are looking at Russian activities, at the activities of separatists. It’s a serious possibility and a serious danger,” Carter told the BBC in an interview published Monday.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet YouTube Video:

USS Ross (DDG 71) observes the overflight by a Russian SU 24 aircraft while both were operating in international waters and airspace. Ross continued on her mission after observing the aircraft return to base. At no time did Ross act aggressively nor did she deviate from her planned operations. The conduct of her crew has been and continues to be professional. Ross’ Sailors observed that the SU 24 carried no weapons – wings were “clean.”

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