Not a friendly gesture. See that it was a Fencer that did the deed. Possibly Fencer D?...Are the Fencers still a front line craft, and how annoying would 12 passes be?...The article also says another fighter was flying high. Would that plane also have been a Fencer, or a more potent craft? http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_RUSSIA_SHIP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
It doesn't matter. It was all just symbolic anyway. The US sent the ship as a symbolic measure, though the US spokesperson appears to be speaking out of both sides of their mouth when they describe it's presence; "The USS Donald Cook has been conducting routine operations in international waters east of Romania." and "said the deployment is part of an effort to reassure allies and partners in the region." The administration is trying to intimidate Putin into complying with the demands of the US and other western powers. Putin is thumbing his nose at the US because he knows the US has declawed it's military the last several years. Nothing more than that, two spoiled children showing off their toys.
Anyone think this gets patched up before the G-8 meeting? Or will it be the Magnificent Seven (always a good choice)?
"The frigate is likely to replace the USS Donald Cook." So this is part of a drawdown already? Ah, to be a politician.... Isn't it more likely to be a Su-24MR (Fencer-E: Dedicated tactical reconnaissance variant) or Su-24MP (Fencer-F: Dedicated electronic signals intelligence)? Buzzing a USN Destroyer then makes sense. The 43rd Independent Naval Shturmovik (Assault) Air Squadron - HQ at Gvardeyskoye, Crimea - has 18x Su-24M, and 4x Su-24MR.
That depends on what they were hoping to provoke with the flybys, and what the other aircraft was loitering in the area. If the flyby's were photographic reconn (Su-24MR), and the distant loiterer sigint (Su-24MP)? There were only 10 sigint Su-24MPs produced. Where they are stationed ordinarily I have no clue.
Nothing new. When I served on board the USNS Observation Island, we got buzzed every time we got close to station off the Kamchatka Peninsula. We also got shadowed by some ship for a while.
Hey...Yes, it sounds right. Fly by and see what the other guys stuff you can sense...Maybe start wwiii - this is depressing: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2605578/Edward-Lucas-I-hope-Im-wrong-historians-look-say-start-World-War-III.html ...And how annoying would 12 flyby's be? Were the sailors out on deck waving?
