La USS Ronald Reagan has had four armed fighters (scramble) take off to intercept two Russian naval reconnaissance planes that were a nautical mile from the carrier. There Reagan it was located east of the Korean peninsula and sailed in international waters. This is what the Seventh Fleet Command communicates.
"Two Tu-142, on Tuesday morning, during some maneuvers scheduled with the South Korean Navy, were detected by Reagan's radar, on an interception route with an estimated distance of less than nautical miles. Four F / A-18 Super Hornets have taken off to intercept Russian bears. The two scouts, despite the attempts, continued the flight in silent radio. The American fighters have escorted the two 'antisom' up to the exit of the carrier's range of action ".
The Russian Embassy in Seoul did not comment on the incident, defined by the Pentagon as "provocative".
The "contact" is only the latest in order that involved Russians and Americans. Last April, a Su-24 carried out twelve low-level passages at close range fromUSS Donald Cook, while the boat was in international waters near Romania. Others Scramble have occurred in recent months in NATO airspace (the last in Turkey).
According to US Navy procedures, when an aircraft carrier like the Reagan is engaged in flight operation, establishes a "control zone" that extends to 360 degrees in a range of five miles.
The vector - reiterate from the US Navy - he was not involved in flight operations during the flight of the Russian Bear, but was fully aware of everything that was happening in the surrounding airspace.
