Navy Times: This is why the Navy didn't shoot down Russian jets
Russian pilots rattled nerves aboard the destroyer Donald Cook, buzzing within yards of the ship in the Baltic Sea. Provocative, sure. But they weren't a credible threat.
So concludes a retired Navy commanding officer, who reviewed photos and videos from the run-ins on Monday and Tuesday, when unarmed Sukhoi Su-24 fighters flew within 1,000 feet of the ship — once coming as close as 30 feet in what U.S. officials called "simulated attacks." On Monday, a low-flying Russian Ka-27 Helix helicopter also appeared to take photos of the ship.
This was definitely provocative, but it doesn't amount to a threat, said the retired frigate and cruiser CO.
"Well, we’re not at war with Russia," Capt. Rick Hoffman said. "It would be one thing to be operating and have a threatening attack profile from someone who might not recognize me — that’s not the case here."
If you have visual identification of the jet, can see it isn't carrying weapons, and don't detect any electronic emissions suggesting there was a missile lock on the ship, there's nothing to be done.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The above is a good explanation. But if these Russian jets were shot down .... I would be blogging from my chalet far away from any city or military target right now.
3 comments:
Monkey Fist
If a man blogs from his chalet in the woods and there is no one around to read it, does it make an impact?
LOL
That's a good one Matthew.
When I first started this blog .... I did it to work on my english, and was happy if I only had one reader.
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