U.S. Official: Spy Plane Flees Russian Jet, Radar; Ends Up Over Sweden -- CNN
Washington (CNN) -- The Cold War aerial games of chicken portrayed in the movie "Top Gun" are happening in real life again nearly 30 years later.
A U.S. Air Force spy plane evaded an encounter with the Russian military on July 18, just a day after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by a suspected surface-to-air missile that Ukraine and the West allege was fired by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The RC-135 Rivet Joint fled into nearby Swedish airspace without that country's permission, a U.S. military official told CNN. The airplane may have gone through other countries' airspace as well, though it's not clear if it had permission to do so.
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More News On A U.S. Spy Plane Fleeing Into Sweden After Being Chased By A Russian Fighter Jet And Tracked By Russian Radar
U.S. spy plane flies into Swedish airspace without permission to avoid Russian fighter jet -- Washington Times
U.S. military plane entered Swedish airspace without permission -- UPI
U.S. spy plane avoids dangerous run in with Russian jet by flying into Sweden's airspace without permission -- Daily Mail
My Comment: I have no proof .... just a gut feeling .... but there is probably more to this story than what the western media is saying.
I'm way way out of date on some of this stuff, but what is unusual about radar ground or otherwise tracking flying objects that didn't originate in your airspace? May it was a target acquisition radar, don't know. There are some pretty knowledgeable commentators here who are much better at this than me who might know. Also what's so unusual about Russia sending up a chase plane?
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing unusual about Russian radar tracking and/or sending up a chase plane .... after-all .... NATO does it all the time when Russian aircraft show up. This is what makes this story incomplete .... what was this U.S. plane doing that made it react the way that it did. The impression that I have is that it was targeted for destruction .... and it was running for it's life.
ReplyDeleteA quick look at the map raises the question of where was this plane running from? What other countries airspaces and why was Sweden named, but not the others?
ReplyDeleteGod questions .... no answers.
ReplyDeleteWell being tracked by land radar could usually imply an interception by a missile. I would say this unarmed plane was probable as WNU stated - running for it's dear life.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know how the Swedish feel about having their neutrality violated by the U.S on a recon mission.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt they were running for their lives. They probably picked up that they were being painted by a target acquisition radar. The map question is intriguing. They had to be near or in Russian territory. To be in international territory and near Russia they would have been north of the Scandinavian peninsula. A chase would have taken them across Finland and maybe Norway to get to Sweden. Did the Russian tail them all the way across these other countries? Also where did this flight originate? Europe? Without over flight of a lot of countries, doubtful. Norway or Iceland, maybe.
I just read on Russian social media that it was in the Murmansk area that this flight occurred. So this pane probably had to cross Finnish/Norwegian air space.
ReplyDeleteMurmansk. Probably Iceland or Scotland for origination. For obvious reasons Finland doesn't seem to want to talk about it.
ReplyDelete