Russian jet causes ‘dangerous’ near miss after flying close to RAF spy plane

Key points

• A Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary, John Healey.
• An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint flying close to its nose in mid April, risking a collision that could have caused a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
• On a second occasion, also in mid April, a Russian Su-35 jet flew sufficiently close to the British spy plane that it set off its emergency systems, including disabling the autopilot, as the plane conducted a surveillance mission over international airspace.
• A Rivet Joint is a spy plane, with a crew of up to 30, capable of a wide range of electronic surveillance at a ranges of about 150 miles, and would have been monitoring Russian activity...