Russian jet did ‘Top Gun’ barrel-roll over US spy plane, passing within 15 metres, Pentagon claims
A Russian Su-27 fighter did a barrel-roll over a US spy plane operating in international airspace over the Baltic Sea last week, at one point coming within 15 metres of the US aircraft, the Pentagon said Monday.
Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Russian jet “conducted a barrel-roll” as it went “from the left side of the aircraft, over the top of the aircraft and ended up on the right side of the aircraft” during Thursday’s incident. He said the US aircraft, an RC-135U, was on a routine mission at the time it was intercepted. Davis did not know if the Russian jet was armed.
Startling video captures Russian warplanes swooping on US destroyer in ‘simulated attack’
The close call had been disclosed by the Pentagon over the weekend, but it was only on Monday that the US offered a clear description of a manoeuvre straight out of the movie Top Gun. In a barrel-roll, an aircraft spirals around its flight path, passing completely upside down at the apex of the roll.
The Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday rejected previous media reports of a dangerous encounter over the Baltic.
