U.S. Jets Intercept Russian Planes Near Aircraft Carrier USS Ronald Reagan

In yet another instance of rising military tensions between the United States and Russia, the U.S. Navy resorted to launching four armed fighter jets to escort its own aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, after two Russian military planes flew very close to it.

According to CNN, the incident happened on Tuesday in the midst of a bilateral exercise the U.S. Navy was carrying out with South Korea in the Pacific Ocean. The report adds that the two Russian planes were Tu-142 Bears which have been described as maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Both the aircraft came within one nautical mile of USS Ronald Reagan, a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier which was participating in the military exercise. The U.S. Navy responded by sending in four F/A-18 fighter jets in what Naval authorities described as being a “standard operating procedure” in case of incidents like these. The Navy statement added that both the Russian aircraft were flying low – just 500 feet in the air.

In an emailed statement to CNN, Navy Cmdr. William J. Marks writes;

“It is standard operating procedure for U.S. planes to escort aircraft flying in the vicinity of U.S. Navy ships. This type of interaction is not unprecedented. Overall I would characterize the interaction as safe.”

First reports of the encounter with the Russian planes were reported by military newspaper Stars and Stripes. Those reports added that a U.S. Ship followed the twin Russian planes as they moved away from USS Ronald Reagan. Other U.S. Navy vessels in the vicinity included USS Chancellorsville, USS Mustin, USS Fitzgerald, and USS Curtis Wilbur.

This encounter between the Russian and the U.S. military is the latest among a string of similar incidents that have been reported in the past few months. Earlier this year, on the U.S. Independence Day (July 4), U.S. fighter jets had intercepted Russian fighters that were flying close to the Alaskan and Californian coast. The Russian pilots even radioed and wished their U.S. counterparts that day.

“Good morning, American pilots. We are here to greet you on your Fourth of July Independence Day,” the Russian pilots told them, confirmed the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Prior to that, in the war torn seas near Crimea, a Russian Su-24 was caught on video flying very close to USS Ross, a guided missile destroyer. All these incidents happened in international waters.

While military encounters of this nature was common between Russia and the United States during the Cold War era, they had shown significant decline over the past two decades. However, according to defense analyst Nick de Larrinaga who is also the Europe editor for IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, these incidents have shown a resurgence ever since Vladimir Putin took over as the Russian president.

“Over the last few years and particularly this year and last year, with the start of the Ukraine crisis, Russia has picked up the number of sorties. His view is that Russia’s political standing and the respect accorded to it have fallen away very much since the end of the Cold War,”

With Russia now also playing an active role in the war against ISIS, the country seems to be harboring a desire to once again become a global military power. Strangely, even though Russia and the U.S. are fighting the ISIS, both of them have decided to support two warring factions. While the U.S. supports the rebels who are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia has come out in open support of Assad.

Do you think future encounters of this nature between the Russian and United States military could escalate into a more severe crisis?

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]