Russian fighter jet comes within 5 feet of US plane: report

An armed Russian fighter jet came within 5 feet of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, Fox News reported Tuesday.

The Russian SU-27, armed with air-to-air missiles, “rapidly” approached an Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on Monday and flew alongside it, officials told Fox News.

The Soviet aircraft was then “provocative” in its maneuvers and flew “erratically.” Officials consider the incident to be an “unsafe” intercept.

CBS News later reported the incident occurred 25 miles northwest of Kaliningrad, Russia, located between Lithuania and Poland in northern Europe.

{mosads}The incident comes days after the United States downed a Syrian plane and Russia in response warned it will treat U.S.-led coalition planes in Syria that fly west of the Euphrates River as targets.

The U.S. and Russia both fight militant groups in Syria but back different sides in the county’s civil war.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said Monday that Moscow and the U.S. are still communicating, but an established deconfliction zone between the two nations was yet to be repaired.

Monday’s incident is the latest in a string of close encounters between U.S. and Russian aircraft. Earlier this month, a Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. B-52 bomber, and in May another Russian jet flew within 20 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon spy plane over the Baltic Sea.

The U.S. has also intercepted several Russian aircraft near Alaska, including two fighter jets on May 4. In April, a pair of Russian TU-95 long-range bomber aircraft flew in international airspace near Alaska four times within four days.