The Russian pilots again frightened the American sailors. No chance. What scared the American military in the Russian army. On an unnamed frequency
Two Russian Su-24 bombers again frightened the Americans in the Baltic Sea - they flew at a low altitude over the US destroyer Donald Cook, - writes Moskovsky Komsomolets.
The Pentagon was very indignant at the behavior of the Russian Aerospace Forces and even called this flight "an imitation of an attack." After all, due to the actions of Russian pilots from the deck of the destroyer, a Polish helicopter could not take off for a long time.
The US military department even published a video of the Russian Su-24 overflight as proof of "the most aggressive actions that are contrary to all international norms." According to US military officials, the flight altitude was just over 30 meters.
Details of this incident also emerged. As it turned out, the ship "Donald Cook" was at the NATO exercises in the neutral waters of the Baltic. All the time russian aircraft did not disregard this destroyer. On April 11 alone, the Americans counted 20 moments when Russian aircraft approached them. In addition to bombers, a Ka-27 helicopter flew up to the ship.
Photo: Su-24 near Donald Cook, 2016.
Photo: Russian helicopter near the US destroyer.
The rapprochement of the Su-24 bomber with the destroyer was filmed on April 12. A similar incident took place in 2014 with the same ship. Then the Americans were simply amazed when the Su-24 was able to turn off all the electronics on the destroyer.
The US military admitted that bureaucracy undermines the country's defenses. The expert is sure that the potential enemy cannot keep up with the development of the RF Armed Forces.
Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security, Speaking to the Committee on Armed Services in the United States Congress Paul Charretold the senators the disappointing news: America is not ready for a potential military conflict with its opponents. According to the speaker, Russia is ahead of the States in the field of electronic warfare (EW), in medium and long-range missiles, and also in air defense.
Sharre acknowledged that the American army can no longer maintain its former military presence in the western Pacific Ocean and is facing similar problems in Europe. The reason for the fading of the potential of the US Armed Forces, according to the military, lies in strategic miscalculations in planning. Due to the excessive bureaucracy in the system of distribution of defense expenditures, the modernization of new types of weapons can take decades.
Head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the PRUE G.V. Plekhanova, military expert Andrey Koshkin in the comment News Agency "Politics Today" noted that for last years Russia has become a leader in electronic warfare, making this a priority.
The political scientist recalled the incident with the American destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea. In the spring of 2014, the team was frightened by the Russian Su-24 bomber, using the Khibiny electronic warfare system against an uninvited guest maneuvering off the coast of Crimea. The effect was worse than from the refreshing mountain air. Cook's radars were blinded, and 27 American sailors, upon arrival at the port, wrote letters of resignation, disappointed in the capabilities of their destroyer.
Koshkin gives another example of the effectiveness of Russian electronic warfare systems:
“A swarm of drones attacked our Syrian base Khmeinim. We destroyed all the drones, and we managed to reprogram six of them by intercepting the signal. The drones were planted, however, three of them exploded on contact with the ground. But we were able to explore the three remaining ones. There were other cases when it was possible not only to pre-empt the enemy's impact with the help of electronic warfare, but also to intercept weapons and then use them for their own purposes. Here we feel confident and continue to improve electronic warfare devices, ”says Koshkin.
The incident mentioned by the expert took place on the night of January 6, 2018 at the base of the Russian Aerospace Forces Khmeinim and the base of the Russian Navy in Tartus. Immediately 13 multicopters tried to drop homemade mines on Russian military facilities, however, according to the Ministry of Defense, the security system violated the terrorists' plans.
Commenting on Americans' concerns about opportunities russian missiles medium and short-range, Koshkin suggested that the United States is aware of the low effectiveness of its own intercontential ballistic missiles LGM-30.
“They now want to deliver more perfect ballistic missiles... This is discussed in the review nuclear policy USA. During the election campaign, Trump spoke about the need to improve the nuclear triad, as it lags behind the modern requirements that other states have reached. In this regard, we have made progress. We are constantly improving our nuclear shield, since we are forced to respond to the aggression emanating from the US and NATO, ”the political scientist said.
Besides electronic warfare complexes Russia has at its disposal powerful anti-aircraft and missile defenseto resist any aggressor. One of the latest developments of the Russian defense concern Almaz-Antey is the anti-aircraft rocket system The Prometheus can destroy not only aircraft, but also hypersonic and cruise ICBMs. American bloggers simulated a possible collision of the US Air Force with the Prometheus and came to the conclusion that NATO's fifth-generation fighters F35 and F22 had no chance.
"RIP F-22", - stated network users.
American sailors filmed their "honorary escort" - Russian Su-24 bombers, which.
As the Wall Street Journal wrote on the eve, such incidents were noted this week in the Baltic Sea. The Russian aircraft were not armed with missiles, but the US military considered their maneuvers "unsafe and potentially provocative."
One of the episodes happened when from the deck american ship a Polish helicopter was to take off. However, because of the Su-24, the takeoff had to be postponed.
In one of the moments filmed on the video, the Su-24 sets from the direction of the sun and passes over an American destroyer at ultra-low altitudes.
The crew of the ship “enjoyed” the air “airshow” to the fullest, not forgetting to take photos and videos, then uploading them to Flikr and Youtube.
Photos taken by the US military are posted on Navy.mil.
Recall that in April 2014, the media reported that USS Donald cook has already been subjected to "attacks" by Russian aircraft in the Black Sea. It was reported that the Su-24 bomber made several maneuvers in the vicinity of an American warship. The pilot did not respond to inquiries, but silently flew in the impermissible proximity of the destroyer at an altitude of 600 meters.
Destroyer URO (with controlled missile weapons) USS Donald Cook is an Arleigh Burke class assigned to 22nd Squadron of the US Navy. The place of his permanent deployment is the military base "Rota" in Spain. The ship's main weapon is the Tomahawk cruise missiles (from 56 to 96 units) with a range of up to 2500 kilometers, capable of carrying nuclear charges... Also, the destroyer is equipped with anti-ship missile launchers "Harpoon", anti-submarine, mine-torpedo weapons, 127-mm artillery mount, anti-aircraft guided missiles and six-barreled artillery guns.
The ship is equipped with the Aegis modern combat information and control system. The system allows to receive and process information from sensors of other ships and aircraft of the compound and to issue target designations to their launchers.
Russian Su-24 bombers several times flew dangerously close to the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. The Pentagon said in a statement that the actions russian pilots were "dangerous, potentially provocative and could lead to a collision", broadcast the morning TV news of the "Actual Camera" (ETV +).
The commander of the American destroyer notes that the planes flew less than 10 meters from the ship and conducted a "simulated attack." The bombers were reportedly unarmed. The aircraft pilots did not respond to radio messages from the destroyer crew, either in Russian or in English.
The White House condemned the overflights of Russian Su-24s over the US Navy destroyer. Video of the incident and details below ...
White House spokesman Josh Ernest said the US administration is aware of Russian fighters flying dangerously close to US destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea and considers them "not in line with military behavior."
And the Pentagon released photographs and videos that, according to the US military, recorded Russian Su-24s "aggressively" flying at low altitude near USS Donald Cook.
"The White House is aware of the incident. [...] This incident does not in any way comply with the professional norms of behavior of military forces operating in close proximity to each other in international water and airspace," Ernest said at a briefing in Washington.
Following this, the US European Command issued a statement expressing "deep concern" about "unsafe and unprofessional Russian air maneuvers."
"These actions can unnecessarily increase tensions between countries and lead to a miscalculation or incident, the consequence of which will be serious injury or death of people," the US military warns.
Earlier, the actions of the Russian pilots in an interview with reporters were criticized by the Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren. Warren called them "provocative and unprofessional."
An anonymous military source to Reuters described the incident in detail, stating that Russian fighters were "simulating an attack" on a US destroyer.
According to him, this is "one of the most aggressive acts in recent years."
According to the US military, over the past few days, Russian Su-24 bombers have flown dangerously close to USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea several times.
As noted, they were not armed.
It is also reported that a Russian Ka-27 helicopter flew over the destroyer, from which, presumably, the ship was photographed.
USS Donald Cook is a fourth-generation US Navy destroyer, whose main weapon is guided missiles. A Polish helicopter was on board.
The destroyer was reportedly bound for the Polish port of Gdansk.
The Pentagon has released footage of the rapprochement of Russian Su-24 bombers with the American destroyer Donald Cook. The incident took place the day before in the international waters of the Baltic Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense has already stated that the planes strictly followed safety rules. However, in NATO, the behavior of Russian pilots was almost called a declaration of war.
Western channels have been playing six seconds of video recording without stopping for almost a day. According to some media reports, the plane passed 20 meters from the deck, according to others, it flew directly over the deck, and still others almost hurt people. The atmosphere is being whipped up by people in uniform, one after the other: Russia has almost declared war.
"The incident is contrary to the professional norms of the military operating in close proximity to each other," said White House spokesman Josh Ernest.
The fact that the planes did not have full ammunition under the wings, and as soon as they approached the ship, they immediately began to go aside, the western channels did not report.
"Crews of Su-24 Russian Aerospace Forces over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. All flights of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are performed in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters. The flight route of Russian aircraft passed through the area where the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook was located, approximately 70 kilometers from the Russian naval base, "- explained the head of the press service and information department of the Ministry of Defense Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov.
We are talking about the largest Russian naval base in the Baltic Sea "Baltiysk". At the time of the approach of the Russian aircraft, the American ship was only 70 kilometers from this most important operational-strategic formation of the Navy with its headquarters in Kaliningrad. The rapprochement could be called a typical display of the flag, but at that moment there was a whole arsenal of weapons on board the American ship.
Of the artillery on the American destroyer was the Mark 45, the rate of fire of which is 20 rounds per minute, the Mark 15 Phalanx CIWS anti-aircraft artillery system, with a subsonic flight speed, and, worst of all, modern system Aegis combat system - long-range missiles - the very same tomahawks that fly at a distance of 2.5 thousand kilometers, can carry a nuclear warhead. Another hour and the ship could come close to the Russian port.
He had already approached the Russian shores twice before. Americans love to say that the ship is invulnerable. But in 2014, in the Black Sea, it was detected by the Russian anti -arab system "Bastion". At the same time, Russian fighters approached him.
“Not far from the Crimean coast, our Su-24 bomber switched on electronic warfare equipment at a distance of a kilometer from this destroyer. They say they wrote a letter of resignation from the destroyer because the American government is unable to protect their lives. We showed them their place and behave correctly. They are non-exclusive, not kings at this wedding. They act as if they can do something , but we can’t do anything, ”said retired colonel Viktor Litovkin, military observer.
"The appearance of foreign warships in the immediate vicinity of Russia's maritime borders, of course, should remain in the field of attention of our Aerospace Forces. In the event of a potential violation of the maritime border, Russia needs to do everything to prevent this from happening, and the hostile target was driven out into neutral waters, "said a military expert, chief Editor of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko.
The practice of flying around warships by fighters and bombers, in fact, was introduced by the Americans themselves. Russian sailors have been tickled nerves since the Cold War.
"From my personal experience, I remember 1970, when we went to a floating submarine base, planes flew around us several times every day. different countries... I have a whole bunch of pictures of the house. We were completely calm about this. If there is some kind of fear, this already refers to psychological stability. For normal military men, this is a common thing, "said Vyacheslav Popov, Russian admiral, commander of the Northern Fleet in 1999-2001.
"I lived for 20 years in Japan, where the capital was located next to two American air bases. We saw a huge number of cases when American planes patrolled civilian objects. What can we say about the extent to which they did not respect other people's military facilities," - said media consultant, human rights activist and journalist in Tokyo, John Bosnich.
What will be the reaction of American sailors to the approach to their ship, will become known as soon as the destroyer returns to port. So far it has been reported only, "not from fright, but from surprise."