U.S. officials say Russian Sukhoi Su-35 pulled a dangerous stunt in international airspace by performing an inverted buzz over a Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.
The scene, reminiscent of a scene from the 1986 Tom Cruise film “Top Gun,” took place Wednesday over the Mediterranean Sea.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had issued a formal complaint on the matter and Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters — Commander, U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) — blasted the “unprofessional” behavior.
“My conclusion at this point is that it was probably something more along the lines of unprofessional as opposed to deliberate [orders from Moscow],” the general said, Military.com reported Thursday.”[It’s] been characterized as unsafe, unprofessional, and that’s exactly what it looks to be at this point.”
The incident created a space of only 25-feet between each aircraft and created wake turbulence.
A statement by the Navy struck a similar chord.
“While the Russian aircraft was operating in international airspace, this interaction was irresponsible,” the statement read, the military website added.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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