It seems like our old pals the Russians are at it again. The latest incident being an SU-27 intercepting one of our EP-3s over the Black Sea.
Now this is the sort of the thing that the news services get all breathless over but it’s really pretty common. We spy on them, they spy on us. We intercept them, they intercept us. All in a day’s work.
What’s not common is the increasing frequency of these incidents and the aggressive flying by the SU-27 pilot. Reportedly he pulled up right in front of the EP-3, causing it to fly through his wake turbulence.
I have heard this maneuver called “thumping.” The interceptor drops below and behind the heavy, goes into afterburner and the climbs vertically in front of the heavy, causing it to go through the wake and probably scaring the crap out of everybody.
The CBS story illustrates it with an animation of two totally different aircraft, because that’s what they do. Come on guys! If you want to get this stuff right, I’m available (and not above shameless self-promotion).
An EP-3 is a modified P-3 Orion that collects “Signals Intelligence” or SIGINT. We have an acronym for everything in the military and the Navy is probably the worst offender. I’m not sure exactly how it all works but they fly near certain people’s airspace and snoop on radar, radio and probably any other signals that are floating around.
This is starting to remind me of the 2001 incident where a Chinese J-8 had a midair with another EP-3, killing the Chinese pilot and very nearly killing the EP-3 crew. The US crew managed to regain control and make an emergency landing in China, where they were “guests” of the Chinese government for several days. Meanwhile the Chinese got a huge intelligence windfall from having an intact EP-3 fall into their laps.
This took place in the period between January 2001 and September 11, 2001 when I was certain the Bush/Cheney administration was trying to start something with China. This all got overshadowed by 9-11, but there was a lot of talk about China going on then.
Remember how we through a hissy fit when a Chinese company took over operation of part of the Panama Canal? I knew people who were certain that those devious Chinese were going to base missiles there, probably with the help of the Clintons, because they hate America or something.
This sort of thing went on all through the Cold War. Usually it was pretty routine. They would intercept our RC-135’s, we would intercept their TU-95’s.
Sometimes the Cold War turned hot, like when a Soviet MiG-19 shot down an RB-47 over the Barents Sea in 1960. The two survivors were kept prisoner until 1961.
Note that RB-47’s regularly penetrated Soviet Airspace all through the 1950s with at least three being shot down. The Soviets obviously didn’t react well to us violating their airspace. Imagine how we would have reacted if they’d done it to us.
We stopped overflying Soviet airspace in 1961 but there were still incidents in international airspace.
Usually it’s the fighter pilot being the “cowboy” but sometimes it’s the heavy driver. An F-15 driver who had been stationed at Keflavik had plenty of stories about intercepting TU-95’s. Part of the interception was to cross under the bomber and get the number off the nose-gear doors. Usually this was pretty routine.
As he described to me: on one intercept he signaled to Ivan “Hey, I’m going to do the door thing.” As soon as he got underneath the Bear, the Russian pilot pushed down and tried to drive him into the ocean. He went to afterburner and shot out from underneath just in time (they must have been pretty low at the time).
I have never been intercepted for real, although I came close once. Apparently the Greeks don’t like it when you come out of Turkish airspace without calling them up ahead of time. Sorry guys. My bad.
My experiences with fighters mostly comes from refueling them in the KC-135 or letting them run intercepts on us in the B-52.
I did have an A-10 driver once give us an impromptu airshow while we were refueling his wingman. I wanted to come up on the radio and say “I get it dude, fighters are maneuverable, now knock it off!”
If he hits us, he’s got an ejection seat but we’re probably riding it in.
Things were worse prior to the 1972 INCSEA treaty we signed with the Russians. Back then our ships were harassing each other to the point of collision. They were shooting flares at each other, shining spotlights at each other, interfering with flight operations and generally being a pain in the ass. If anyone here served in the Navy back then I’m sure you’ve got some stories to tell.
It got so bad that we were worried a shooting war might accidentally start from a game of “chicken” between naval forces.
I can sum up the INCSEA treaty in one sentence “Don’t be a dick”.
Try not to hit anybody.
Don’t sail (or fly) through the other side’s formation.
Don’t point weapons at each other.
Don’t pretend to attack each other.
Don’t try to blind the other guy with spotlights, lasers etc.
And finally this one:
Requiring aircraft commanders to use the greatest caution and prudence in approaching aircraft and ships of the other party and not permitting simulated attacks against aircraft or ships, performing aerobatics over ships, or dropping hazardous objects near them.
www.state.gov/...
So why is this happening? This is pure speculation on my part, but I’d say they’re flexing their muscles a bit. They may not be a super-power any more, but they may want to show that they’re still a force to be reckoned with.
I don’t know if it’s response to anything we’re doing. I’ve been retired for enough years that I don’t have any good “intel”. Knowing the current administration, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.
George Orwell