Four Russian military aircraft conducted low passes against a U.S. destroyer in the Black Sea last week, the first such military provocation since the new Trump administration took office.The incident took place Feb. 10 and involved the USS Porter, a guided missile destroyer, fending off low flights by what the commander of the ship regarded as potentially dangerous flybys.
"There were several incidents involving multiple Russian aircraft," said Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez, spokesman for the European Command. "They were assessed by the commanding officer as unsafe and unprofessional."
The first buzzing involved two Russian Su-24 jet fighters followed by a single Su-24 and, in a third incident, an IL-38 transport aircraft.
The passes were described by Hernandez, the Eucom spokesman, as ranging from unusually low altitude to low altitude and high speed. The Russian aircraft operated without their electronic identifying transponders activated. The Russian aircraft also failed to respond to several radio requests from the Porter to halt the overflights.