MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. A Russian fighter jet Sukhoi Su-27 has been scrambled to intercept an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and an R-8A Poseidon, the US Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft, over the Black Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center told reporters on Wednesday.
According to the center, Russian radars detected two targets in international airspace over the neutral waters of the Black Sea earlier in the day. The aircraft were heading towards the Russian sovereign airspace.
"A Su-27 fighter jet of the Southern Military District’s air defense units on duty was scrambled to intercept the targets in midair," the Defense Ministry said. "The Russian fighter jet crew approached the aircraft at a safe distance and identified them as an RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and an R-8A Poseidon, the US Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft," the center said.