More daily reality snacks at: http://russia-insider.com Russian Jets Feint a Strafing Run on a US Destroyer. Americans Feint Shock and Horror We're inclined to believe the US Navy is nowhere near as shocked as it's pretending to be Pentagon decries Russian jets zooming over USS Donald Cook Yay. Gotta love fake manufactured horror. Russians do a dry strafing run on a US destroyer in the Baltic (as in the sea that Russia's second city and the old capital of Saint Petersburg lies on) and American military pretends this is such a horrific thing that it makes CNN. To demonstrate just how out of order the Russians supposedly were the US Navy did its best impersonation of a 12-year-old girl and took to Youtube and Twitter to cry about it. The media took over from there so that the story is now making the rounds – in a high-pitched tone meant to evoke horror an outrage. The video shows a pair of Su-24 bombers making an overflight of the US ship at a very low attitude, indicating the planes may have approached the ship undetected by radar. Which may have been a problem for the guided missile destroyer if the jets were carrying anti-ship missiles and there was a war. It's not exactly a friendly act but let's get a little context here. Right now the US is talking up flooding Syria with anti-aircraft weapons to help kill Russian pilots. The US has also decided to deploy an armored brigade to Russia's border 200 kilometres from downtown Saint Petersburg. Weeks ago NATO supreme allied commander wanted to fly spy planes over Russian territory. These are just some of the latest ways in which US is showing it thinks of Russia as something like an enemy. So what exactly is it that makes the Russian's reaction other than completely expected? The guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook was (DDG-75) was buzzed on April 11, 2016 in the Baltic Sea by a pair of Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer fighters. As seen in a video released by U.S. European Command on Wednesday afternoon. The aerobatics skills of Russian pilots over the US destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea left the Pentagon and other US official running for cover in Washington over “aggressive close interactions” with Russian fighters jets. Releasing the footage of Russian jet flybys in the vicinity of the destroyer, the US Navy said that its vessel has encountered multiple “aggressive flight maneuvers ...within close proximity of the ship,” some as close as 30 feet (10 meters) on Monday and Tuesday. The set of incidents took place as the US ship, which had sailed from the Polish port of Gdynia, was conducting exercises with its NATO ally Poland in the Baltic Sea. The Navy announced that the SU-24 first flew over Donald Cook on Monday as US sailors were rehearsing “deck landing drills with an allied [Polish] military helicopter”. The numerous close-range, low altitude encounters were witnessed at 3:00pm local time, forcing the commander of the ship to suspend helicopter refueling on the deck until the Russian jets departed the area. According to a US defense official who spoke with Defense News, sailors aboard the Donald Cook claimed that the Russian jets’ low altitude stirred waters and created wake underneath the ship. US personnel on the American vessels, also claimed that Su-24 was “wings clean,” meaning no armaments were present on the Russian jets that could have posed a threat to US operations in the Baltic. The Russian overflights have caused panic over in Washington, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest calling the actions of the Russian pilots “provocative” and “inconsistent with professional norms of militaries.” “I hear the Russians are up to their old tricks again in the EUCOM [US European Command] AOR [area of responsibility],” Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren said during a briefing on Wednesday, adding that the US is “concerned with this behavior.” “We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers. These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death,” the US European Command said in a statement. In the meantime Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, thanked the US crew for keeping their cool during the stressful situation. “Bravo Zulu to the crew of USS Donald Cook for their initiative and toughness in how they handled themselves during this incident,” the admiral said on Facebook. Russia has yet to comment on the incidents but most likely the Russian air craft flew from the Kaliningrad region, bordering Poland. Kaliningrad is the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which also includes the Chernyakhovsk, Donskoye, and Kaliningrad Chkalovsk air bases.

• published: 14 Apr 2016
• views: 32668