A Shukoi Su-24 of the Russian Air Force watched closely, a few meters from port, the aircraft carrier ‘Juan Carlos I’ of the Spanish Armada.
The Baltic is the scene these days of great naval maneuvers of NATO. Some exercises in which Spain participates, embedded in a fleet of 50 military vessels, and which provoke misgivings in Russia. In fact, Moscow closely monitors the military movements in the area, and the aircraft carrier ‘Juan Carlos I’ has seen it up close: a Russian fighter Su-24 made a pass a few meters from the ship ‘star’ of the Spanish Navy.
In the images accompanying this information, recorded by the ship’s personnel from an elevated position of the aircraft carrier ‘Juan Carlos I’, one can see how a Sukhoi Su24M fighter aircraft, called ‘Fencer’ in the NATO code, flies low. speed a few meters to the ship’s port side. They were taken this week.
The Russian aircraft, confirm military sources to OKDIARIO, was detected by the “long distance” radars and the ship’s crew was informed that the fighter was approaching directly to the area where they were. No type of protection measure was activated because it was not considered to have “hostile intentions”, although it is understood as a message of disapproval to the maneuvers by Russia. Knowing in advance the direction of the fighter allowed members of the crew to make a recording with a mobile phone and pick up the transit of the Su-24 to the height of the ship.
As seen in the images, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier there are two McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II fighters of the 9th Spanish Navy Aircraft Squadron prepared and ready to take off.
The incident is reminiscent of another controversial case of 2016, when two other Su-24s overflew the US destroyer ‘Donald Cook’ (based in Rota) in the Black Sea a few meters away . For the USA, they were “unsafe, potentially dangerous” maneuvers. In 2015, another similar case was registered, reported by the Pentagon.
The ‘Juan Carlos I’ participates these days in the Baltops maneuvers , one of the most important annual exercises of NATO. The waters of the Baltic host 50 ships, two submarines, 36 aircraft and about 9,000 soldiers of various allied nations.
F-102 frigates Admiral Juan de Borbón and F-105 Cristóbal Colón are also present in the fleet . Two ships that are characterized by their Aegis combat system, an equipment designed to detect and neutralize aerial threats.
Source: okdiario
