(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) – A Russian fighter jet attempted to shoot down a British reconnaissance aircraft while it was conducting a surveillance mission in international airspace over the Black Sea on September 29th of last year, according to a report by the BBC television station.
The Russian fighter aircraft is reported to have launched two air-to-air guided missiles towards the British reconnaissance aircraft, RC-135 Rivet Joint, after allegedly receiving “authorization” from its base to shoot down the spy plane.
“The Russian aircraft pilot launched two air-to-air guided missiles towards the British reconnaissance aircraft, but the first missile failed to hit the target, while the second missile malfunctioned,” reported the BBC.
When asked to comment on the incident from last year, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the launch of air-to-air guided missiles by one of their fighter jets at the British spy plane was due to a “technical error.”
At that time, the British Ministry of Defense accepted the “explanation” provided by Russia.
However, now, three defense sources have told the BBC a different version of the incident compared to the statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding last year’s incident.
The BBC reports that the British RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, carrying 30 passengers, was approached by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets while flying in international airspace over the Black Sea.
Intercepted dadio conversations by the Russian fighter pilots indicated that one of them believed he had received “authorization” from his base to target the British spy plane.
The Russian pilot then launched an air-to-air guided missile at the British reconnaissance aircraft, but unfortunately, the missile missed its target.
The second Russian Su-27 fighter jet pilot is said to have reprimanded the first pilot, stating that they had not received any authorization to launch air-to-air guided missiles.
However, even while having this internal dispute, the first Su-27 fighter jet pilot still launched the second air-to-air guided missile at the British spy plane.
However, the air-to-air guided missile experienced a technical failure and only “fell” from its launcher as soon as it was launched.
Nevertheless, U.S. intelligence sources quoted by The New York Times stated that the incident that occurred last year was “extremely serious” and could be defined as an “act of war.”
U.S. intelligence officials described what happened during the tense encounter as “extremely, extremely alarming.”
They also stated that the first Russian Su-27 fighter jet pilot had “misinterpreted” the instructions given by their base which led nearly led to the downing of the “spy aircraft.”
The RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft provides vital support to both theater-level and national-level entities by delivering almost real-time intelligence gathering, analysis, and distribution capabilities right from the scene of interest.
This aircraft is a highly customized iteration of the C-135 platform.
The extensive modifications made to the Rivet Joint primarily revolve around its onboard sensor suite, which endows the mission crew with the capacity to not only detect but also identify and geographically locate signals across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Subsequently, the gathered information can be disseminated in various formats to a diverse array of end-users, facilitated by the comprehensive communication infrastructure within the Rivet Joint aircraft.
Internally, the aircraft boasts seating for more than 30 individuals, encompassing the cockpit crew, electronic warfare officers, intelligence operators, and in-flight maintenance technicians. — DSA
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