“The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all," Air Force General Gregory Guillot said.
The U.S. military on Monday released video of what it said was an unsafe maneuver by a Russian fighter jet near Alaska during an intercept by the U.S. military last week.
The United States regularly carries out aerial intercepts of Russian aircraft in international airspace near Alaska, and usually says they are carried out in a safe and professional manner. But this time was different, officials say.
“The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all — not what you’d see in a professional air force,” Air Force General Gregory Guillot, who oversees U.S. forces in North America said in a statement posted on X.
Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Video link: https://x.com/NORADCommand/status/1840776113846468898/video/1
That Russian pilot was entirely dependent on the American pilot not experiencing “Air Rage” or having an untimely “weapons malfunction”. There’s a 100% chance that an AIM-9, which that F-16c did have on board, would have wrecked that Rooskies day.
Beyond that if the Russian had fucked it up and actually hit the F-16 all hell would have broken loose.
Do pilots get air rage? I’m sort of terrified now, I’ve only met super calm and collected pilots that might be way too far up their own butts but still seem like nothing could piss them off.
Nah, those guys are cool as cucumbers. It was a super-dangerous maneuver by the SU-35 pilot, but I assure you the F-16 pilot knew exactly what was going on the whole time.
Collision is obviously a risk here, but a jet pilot almost by accident firing a missile is just absolutely absurd. These incidents are a dance that happens almost daily. Pilots are trained no to be trigger happy in these situations.