“What passes for dangerous and provocative today was ho-hum to recon crews of my generation” a former RC-135 commander says.
On April 7, a US RC-135U spy plane was intercepted over the Baltic Sea off the coast of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad by a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet.
The Pentagon protested the “reckless” and “unprofessional” behaviour of the Russian pilot who flew dangerously close to the American U-Boat (as the RC-135U is nicknamed in the pilot community).
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the RC-135U was intercepted because it needed to be identified as it was flying with its transponder switched off (like Russian warplanes operating over the Baltic Sea and near UK). However, the spy plane’s Mode-S transponder could be detected by ADS-B receivers, according to Flightradar24.com.
A few days ago, a former RC-135 aircraft commander who flew the S, U, V, W, and X models, sent us an email and gave his point of view about the “U-Boat” intercept.
Here’s what he explained to us:
“About the RC-135U intercept last week, the absence of a transponder signal is a non-issue. Having flown many of these missions, we used the concept of “see and avoid” where the pilot flying is responsible for avoiding all traffic conflicts, much like a VFR flight plan without flight following.
Given that the intercept took place in VMC there is simply no merit in the Russian accusations that the U-Boat was flying without an active transponder and therefore a dangerous risk.
The close proximity is equally moot.
Prior to the end of the Cold War interceptors from a variety of nations managed to get into tight formation with RC-135s and EP-3s. Smaller airplanes like MiG-21s made it easy. The challenge with the larger airplanes like the Su-27 and MiG-31 is the sheer size of the interceptor as it moves in front of any portion of the intercepted plane.
At least the Su-27 pilot has excellent all-around visibility to see where the back end of his own airplane is as he maneuvers adjacent to the RC-135.
The U-Boat crew took video of the intercept, which has not been released but shows the precise extent of how close the FLANKER really was. Recent movies taken by a PRC aircraft that was intercepted by a JASDF F-15CJ suggests that the Eagle was very close—until the camera zooms out and shows the Eagle was 70-100 feet away from the wingtip….
Finally, although the number of Russian reactions to Western recon flights has been increasing recently, for 15-20 years (certainly from 1992 through 2010) there were almost no reactions on a regular basis. As such, what passes for dangerous and provocative today was ho-hum to recon crews of my generation (although we weren’t shot at like the early fliers from 1950-1960).”
SEE ALSO: Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine are preparing for something big
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Watch these giant container ships collide near the Suez Canal