Russian Su-27 fighter escorted the US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Defense Control Center (NDCC) told reporters.
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Earlier in the day, Russian radars detected an air target over the neutral waters of the Black Sea approaching the Russian state border, it said.
“To identify the air target and prevent it from breaching the Russian state border, a Su-27 fighter from the air defense forces of the Southern Military District was scrambled. The crew of the Russian fighter identified the air target as the RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and escorted it over the Black Sea,” the center said.
“After the foreign military aircraft turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation, the Russian fighter returned safely to its home base,” it added. The flight of the Russian aircraft was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.
Earlier, three Russian Su-35S fighter jets escorted on Sunday a US B-52H strategic bomber that was approaching Russia’s border in the Pacific Ocean, the country’s defense ministry said.
According to the Russian National Defense Control Center, Russian airspace control devices detected an air target approaching the state border over the Pacific.
“To identify and escort the foreign aircraft, three Su-35S fighters from the air defense forces of the Eastern Military District were scrambled into the air. The crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces fighters identified the air target as a strategic bomber B-52H of the US Air Force and escorted it over the Pacific Ocean,” the center said in a statement.
Designed and built by US aerospace juggernaut Boeing in 1952, the B-52 “Stratofortress” better known as “BUFF” (Big Ugly Fat Fella) is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the US Air Force since its official induction in 1955.
It is one of the oldest aircraft in service with the US Air Force, which was built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions by replacing the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft called the Convair B-36 Peacemaker.
