USS Ross Russian Jets, "The Russian planes were naked. In other words, no weapons aboard, no weapons on her wings,” he said. The USS Ross never changed course, he added, and nobody on board or at U.S. Navy Europe headquarters assessed the jets’ actions as threatening. The jets came within 500 meters of the destroyer, flying at an altitude of roughly 200 feet.
“This was just two groups operating in international airspace,” Warren said. “We do not assess it was in any way aggressive. This was simply a ship and a plane passing – in the day, in this case.”
Warren chided Russian reports from “tabloids” and state-sponsored media that hyped the incident as a military standoff.
"The ship's crew acted provocatively and aggressively, which caused alarm among operators of monitoring stations and Black Sea Fleet ships carrying out assignments in the Black Sea,” state-sponsored Sputnik News reported, citing an unnamed source. “Scrambled Su-24 attack jets demonstrated a readiness to forcibly suppress border violations and defend the country's interest.”
The incident is the latest in a string of posturing incidents between the U.S. and Russia, as well as other countries such as Sweden, since the former Soviet power annexed the Crimean peninsula last year. The U.S. has responded with a string of military exercises known as Atlantic Resolve designed to reassure nearby allies, many of whom are former Soviet states themselves who have subsequently joined NATO. It has also continued to conduct regular patrols in international waters like the Black Sea and at friendly ports nearby.
On Monday, U.S. Naval Forces Europe tweeted a picture of an Su-24 again buzzing the USS Ross. Warren confirmed there was more than one jet, but not have any further details on this incident.
Last April, Su-24s flew within 1,000 yards of the USS Donald Cook while it was also in the Black Sea. Warren then blasted in the incident as “provocative and unprofessional.”
“This was just two groups operating in international airspace,” Warren said. “We do not assess it was in any way aggressive. This was simply a ship and a plane passing – in the day, in this case.”
Warren chided Russian reports from “tabloids” and state-sponsored media that hyped the incident as a military standoff.
"The ship's crew acted provocatively and aggressively, which caused alarm among operators of monitoring stations and Black Sea Fleet ships carrying out assignments in the Black Sea,” state-sponsored Sputnik News reported, citing an unnamed source. “Scrambled Su-24 attack jets demonstrated a readiness to forcibly suppress border violations and defend the country's interest.”
The incident is the latest in a string of posturing incidents between the U.S. and Russia, as well as other countries such as Sweden, since the former Soviet power annexed the Crimean peninsula last year. The U.S. has responded with a string of military exercises known as Atlantic Resolve designed to reassure nearby allies, many of whom are former Soviet states themselves who have subsequently joined NATO. It has also continued to conduct regular patrols in international waters like the Black Sea and at friendly ports nearby.
On Monday, U.S. Naval Forces Europe tweeted a picture of an Su-24 again buzzing the USS Ross. Warren confirmed there was more than one jet, but not have any further details on this incident.
Last April, Su-24s flew within 1,000 yards of the USS Donald Cook while it was also in the Black Sea. Warren then blasted in the incident as “provocative and unprofessional.”
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