What scared the American destroyer. “Cook” was again “eaten” by Russian pilots On an unnamed frequency

After 1991, when an Iraqi MiG was shot down over Persian Gulf one of the American Hornites, F/A-18 had no combat contact with Russian-built fighters. However, in November 2000, there was still a meeting between American carrier-based aircraft and fighter jets Russian Air Force, which was “as close as possible” to combat.

First, you should give the floor to the American pilot, a direct eyewitness to the events described (the text of his letter sent by e-mail from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, against the will of the author of the message, became public knowledge).

“...The voyage was quite easy and interesting: 54 days at sea, 4 in port and 45 hours of flight in October alone! (for comparison, many pilots of the Russian Air Force have an annual flight time of about 45-60 hours, with the required 200-250) Yes, we flew off our asses! Since I became one of the squadron commanders, I have been flying a lot. Here interesting story(and this is not bullshit).

So, I’m sitting there and chatting about all sorts of bullshit with my deputy, and we hear a call on the box from the BIC (combat information center- the “brain” of the ship). -They say: “Sir, we have spotted Russian planes.”

The captain replies: “Declare the alarm, scramble the fighters.” From the center they say: you can only announce “Alert-30” (departure 30 minutes (!) from the moment of announcement). The captain swore and said: “Get everything you can into the air as quickly as possible!” I ran to the navigator's telephone and contacted the squadron duty officer. It wasn't our squadron on duty that day, so I told him to find out who was on duty and make them get off their asses and rush to the flight deck (only Alert 7 assumes you're already on the flight deck and ready to go into the air: “Alarm 30” means you are still sitting in the waiting room).

Soon Russian Su-27 and Su-24 at a speed of 500 knots passed directly over the bridge of the Kitty Hawk. Just like in the movie "Top Gun"! The officers on the bridge spilled their coffee and said...! (An obscene expression that has a very emotional Russian counterpart.) At that moment I looked at the captain - his face was purple.

The Russian fighters made two more tight turns at low altitude before we finally launched our first aircraft from the deck. It was... EA-6B "Prowler" (aircraft electronic warfare). Yes, yes, we launched the unfortunate Prowler one on one against a fighter right above the ship. Our pilots were already asking for help when finally the F/A-18 from the "sister" squadron (I use this term literally, as they looked like a company " women lung behavior" (the phrase in quotation marks has been replaced by a more decent one - note from the administration), flirting with the Russians) took off into the air to intercept. But it was too late. The whole team raised their heads and watched as the Russians made a mockery of our pathetic attempt to stop them.

The funny thing is that the admiral and the commander of the carrier force were in the command room for a morning meeting, which was interrupted by the hum of the turbines of Russian aircraft circling above the aircraft carrier's control room. The commander's staff officer told me that they looked at each other, at the flight plan, were convinced that the launch was only a few hours away that day, and asked: “What was that?”

Four days later, the Russian intelligence service emailed the commander of Kitty Hawk with photographs of our pilots rushing around the deck, desperately trying to get the planes into the air...”

The events described in the letter took place in the Korean Strait area on October 17, 2000. Two Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft and a covering flight of Su-27 fighter-interceptors from the 11th Air Force and Air Defense Army took part in the flyby of the American multi-purpose aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. . According to the then Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Anatoly Karnukov, “this was planned reconnaissance, during which, however, unusual tasks were solved.” At the same time, no international agreements were not violated by the Russian side.

It should be noted that the American naval maneuvers took place only 300 km from the Russian coast, which in itself could not be regarded as a friendly act towards our country. Therefore actions Russian aviation were completely justified and legitimate.

According to the Commander-in-Chief, the intelligence results “were impressive.” Su-24MRs made several approaches to the aircraft carrier, photographing everything that was happening on the flight deck. The photographs showed panic on board the ship: the sailors began to urgently cut the hoses connecting the aircraft carrier to the tanker, which at that time was transferring fuel aboard the Kitty Hawk.

The F/A-18 fighters were able to take off only after the second approach of the Russian reconnaissance aircraft, but the Su-27s immediately led them away from the ship with a diversionary maneuver, which allowed the reconnaissance aircraft to carry out several more flights over the aircraft carrier, which was completely defenseless from the air. According to press reports, the flyby by Russian Kitty Hawk aircraft was repeated on November 9 and was also successful.

Here's how the media described these events:

1) On December 7 in Washington, US military officials Kent Bacon and Admiral Stephen Pietropaoli held a press conference at which they revealed some details of a series of incidents in the Sea of ​​Japan when Russian planes- Su-27 and Su-24 reconnaissance aircraft flew at a critical distance to the American aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk based there.

Some time later, the carrier received an email containing two photographs of the Kitty Hawk's deck taken from Russian aircraft during one of these Russian Air Force actions, Bacon said Thursday. The letter also contained a short message in Russian, the contents of which Amiral Pietropaoli refused to clarify, UPI reports. According to him, the letter was not sent from the Russian Ministry of Defense, and its sender is unknown to the Pentagon representative.

In addition, Kenneth Bacon said that at a press conference a week ago, when he also spoke about the actions of Russian pilots, he made a number of inaccuracies. Firstly, there were not two, but three cases of overflight of Russian aircraft - on October 12, October 17 and November 9. Secondly, in the October 17 incident, the planes were not “detected at an acceptable distance” a few hundred meters from the ship, as previously reported by the Russian Air Force, but flew directly over the aircraft carrier, causing confusion for the US military. At this moment, pictures were taken and subsequently sent to Kitty Hawk.

Lenta.ru 8.12.00

2) Russian military aircraft in the Sea of ​​Japan successfully carried out an operation to overcome air defense American aircraft carrier multi-role strike group led by the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk (KittyHawkCV63). A message about this, published by the Izvestia newspaper, was confirmed to Interfax on Tuesday by informed sources in the Russian military department. According to them, this happened twice in the Sea of ​​Japan at the moment when the US aircraft carrier group was heading for exercises in the Korean Strait (October 17) and when it was returning from maneuvers (November 9) ... (Interfax November 14, 2000)

According to some reports, the planes were from 11 air army(commander - Lieutenant General Anatoly Nagovnitsyn). The Kitty Hawk's deck was completely unprepared for resistance, and the Americans seriously decided that they were being attacked, and in a panic they began to cut the fuel communications so that there would be no big explosion and fire during the attack. Then they raised the Hornets and tried to accompany the Sushi to the coast.

On the same day, Anatoly Kornukov stated that “Management General Staff The Armed Forces highly appreciated the work of Russian pilots who opened the air defense system of the US aircraft carrier strike force led by the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. According to him, all pilots will be nominated for awards. “This was a planned reconnaissance, although during it unusual tasks were solved. The results of this reconnaissance are impressive,” the commander-in-chief emphasized.

On October 17, 2000, two Su-24 and Su-27 combat aircraft from the 11th Air Force and Air Defense Army of Russia discovered the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and flew in close proximity to it, at an altitude of approximately 60 m. At the time of the flyby, the ship was replenishing stocks on the go in the northern part Sea of ​​Japan, between the island of Hokkaido and the Russian mainland. After the flyby Russian pilots sent the pictures they took to the aircraft carrier's website. The flights were repeated on October 20 and November 9

A month later, representatives of the US Department of Defense officially acknowledged the fact of the aircraft carrier overflight. Russian funds mass media They prefer the term “conditional destruction”.

The incident involving the flight of a Russian Su-24 bomber over the American destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea is reminiscent of déjà vu. Exactly two years ago, a similar meeting between “Kuk” and “Sushka” over the Black Sea caused a lot of noise. According to media reports, in April 2014, the crew of this American warship was frightened by the electronic warfare equipment used by a Russian aircraft, which paralyzed the onboard equipment of the destroyer - then 27 crew members filed a transfer report.

Two years after that incident, the defendants “relocated” to the Baltic Sea. Here, according to the American side, two Su-24 aircraft, presumably without ammunition, flew close to the destroyer Donald Cook, which was conducting training sessions with the participation of a Polish Air Force helicopter. Russian bombers flew near the American ship for two days in a row and also prevented the takeoff of a Polish helicopter. A Russian Ka-27 military helicopter was also spotted nearby.

“We have deep concerns about unsafe and unprofessional Russian maneuvers.

These actions could potentially increase tensions in relations between countries,” the representatives were quoted as saying.

Hero of Russia, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Colonel Anatoly Kvochur also noted that all pilots must master this maneuver - flying at an extremely low altitude. It is necessarily included in the combat training course for fighter-bomber aircraft, as well as for tactical bombers, which is the Su-24.

“It is used for covert approach to the target. This is especially important when the terrain is rough, and above the sea it can be seen from afar.

But at a good speed, and it was about 900 km/h, it is difficult to detect such an aircraft in advance - at low altitude it is a point, which then turns into a large, rather loudly humming object,” the interlocutor says.

As is known, Su-24 bomber - front-line bomber with variable sweep wing, designed to launch missile and bomb strikes in simple and adverse weather conditions, day and night, including at low altitudes with targeted destruction of ground and surface targets. Variable sweep wing is a type of design aircraft heavier than air with a fixed wing, which allows one of the types of wing geometry to be changed in flight - sweep. On high speeds During flight, a larger sweep is more effective, and during small flights (takeoff, landing) a smaller sweep is more effective.

“Since they came with a straight wing - this is a wing for cruising flight and landing - it is obvious that the speed was low,” explains Kvochur. —

If they folded the wing to maximum sweep, it would be possible to fly at a speed of 1300-1400 km/h, which would lead to a serious bang, because supersonic speed pulls along the so-called shock wave and pulls such a wave along with it. This wave can lead to the destruction of some weakly reinforced structures, such as antennas, and on the ground it can lead to the destruction of small buildings,” the pilot specifies.

He noted that, obviously, the commanders did not allow the wing to be folded so as not to aggravate the situation. “If these pilots made such a maneuver on their own initiative, based on patriotic and professional considerations, then this is up to the commander, but I would encourage them for their professionalism,” says the Hero of Russia.

According to military sources in the United States, Russian planes flew over the destroyer Donald Cook in international waters at an altitude of less than 30 m, about 10 m from it, which, in their opinion, was “unprofessional and unsafe.”

“On Tuesday, a pair of Russian combat Su-24s, presumably without weapons, circled the Cook 11 times. At one point, the Russian plane was 30 feet (9.14 m) from the ship,” Pentagon spokeswoman Michelle Baldanza said in a statement.

Commenting on the American side’s statements about “unprofessional behavior,” the honored Russian pilot emphasized that everything was done cleanly, without any rough edges.

“In general, flying over the sea at an extremely low altitude is a rather serious matter, because it is difficult to determine the altitude. When you fly over earth's surface, there are some irregularities, there is something for the eye to catch on, and so is the sea and the sea. This is a serious matter that requires professionalism,” he told Gazeta.Ru.

At the same time, he added that it is much easier to fly next to a ship, which is a landmark, having its own altitude. “It would be possible to fly so that a wave would rise and steam up the water a little, washing the Americans’ eyes a little,” Kvochur joked.

Meanwhile, the American side, having studied the incident, used diplomatic channels to appeal to Russia. The US congressman in charge of naval affairs stated that "US naval activity in Europe must be expanded to respond to the threat posed by Russia's international behavior." Although, as retired US Navy officer Rick told The Navy Times, American destroyer did not open fire on Russian planes flying dangerously close to the ship, since they were unarmed and did not pose a threat: “We are not at war with Russia,” Hoffman said, noting that you cannot kill people just because "They're annoying."

Let us remind you that Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Donald Cook equipped with an Aegis air defense system with interceptor missiles, as well as cruise missiles Tomahawk. The decision to defeat targets threatening the ship can be made automatically.

As stated on Thursday official representative Russian Ministry of Defense Igor, all aircraft flights Russian VKS are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace above neutral waters. “The flight route of the Russian aircraft passed through the area where the US Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook was located, approximately 70 km from the Russian naval base. Having discovered the ship in the visual visibility zone, the Russian pilots turned away from it in compliance with all safety measures,” Konashenkov said.

As Colonel Kvochur explained to Gazeta.Ru, as for the lapel, this is indeed the case, and once again emphasized the professionalism of the pilots when performing the maneuver. “They did not fly over the ship and its superstructures at such a speed that they hit people on the deck. They turned away and walked to the side at a considerable distance. If they went supersonic, there would be a bang. But I hope that in the near foreseeable future it will not come to this in relations with American partners,” he concluded.

Warsaw also expressed its opinion on what happened. The head of Poland said that together with the United States they would “think about a common response” to the incident, since “it was carried out mainly against a Polish helicopter.” According to him, “this type of provocative behavior” has been observed “for some time”, and the question is “what is its purpose and why was it necessary.”

Russian Su-24 bombers flew dangerously close to the American destroyer USS Donald Cook several times in the Baltic Sea. The Pentagon said in a statement that the actions of the Russian pilots were “dangerous, potentially provocative and could have led to a collision,” the morning television news of Current Camera (ETV+) reported.

The commander of the American destroyer notes that the planes flew at a distance of less than 10 meters from the ship and conducted a “simulated attack.” It is reported that the bombers were not equipped with weapons. The aircraft pilots did not respond to radio messages from the destroyer crew in either Russian or English.

The White House condemned the flights of Russian Su-24s over the US Navy destroyer. Video of the incident and details below...

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the US administration is aware of Russian fighter jets flying dangerously close to the American destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea and considers them “not in compliance with military standards of conduct.”

And the Pentagon released photographs and videos that, according to the US military, showed Russian Su-24s flying “aggressively” at low altitude near the USS Donald Cook.

"The White House is aware of the incident. [...] This incident is in no way consistent with professional standards behavior of military forces operating in close proximity to each other in international waters and airspace," Earnest said at a briefing in Washington.

Following this, US European Command issued a statement expressing “deep concern” about “unsafe and unprofessional Russian air maneuvers.”

“These actions could unnecessarily increase tensions between countries and lead to a miscalculation or incident that could result in serious injury or death,” the US military warns.

Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren criticized the actions of Russian pilots in a conversation with reporters. Warren called them "provocative and unprofessional."

An anonymous Reuters military source described the incident in detail, saying that Russian fighters"simulated an attack" on an American destroyer.

According to him, we're talking about about "one of the most aggressive acts in recent times."

According to the US military, over the past few days, Russian Su-24 bombers have flown dangerously close to the US destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea several times.

As noted, they were not armed.

It is also reported that a Russian helicopter Ka-27, from which photographs of the ship were allegedly taken.

USS Donald Cook - destroyer US Navy fourth generation, whose main weapons are guided missiles. There was a Polish helicopter on board the ship.

The destroyer was reportedly heading to the Polish port of Gdansk.

It was routine. For two and a half hours he flew along Russian border and, probably, he laughed out loud both at the Russians and at his own people, who frightened him with the Russians. He is the crew of the American P-3 Orion long-range electronic reconnaissance aircraft. Those who have already been here warned that it is better to drive to Iraq or show off over Afghanistan than to tease the Russians. But here they are over the Black Sea. Scanning the enemy coast. Boredom makes my cheekbones cramp. "Russians, huh..." They didn’t have time to say “U”. And they didn’t even understand, but immediately felt why this car was called “Su”.

“We define this as an unsafe approach due to the fact that the Su-27 crossed the flight path of the P-3, which is why the P-3 had to fly through the turbulence from the Su-27’s jet stream,” they would later say in Washington. Gold words. "Swirls from the jet." Both cause and effect. If we got rid of the turbulence at home, there would be no jet. And our interception was born from a grip. I didn’t look at the louse like a soldier. He waved his wing and drove away. He galloped away without looking back. The Pentagon was offended. The State Department pouted. They say your fighter flew up one and a half meters. Five feet. Like, a little more, and it would have been seven feet. Under the keel. And this is a completely different element.

Although, if you look at it, the sky over the Black Sea is also not their element at all. But we understand everything. International waters. No questions. They are not even bothered by the fact that for the United States this is the seventh international water on jelly. But that's their job. We are not making any claims. And in some places they are even grateful. It is they who need to maintain a special “Aggressors” squadron in the States in order to practice tactics on them air combat. But we don’t need to repaint anyone in the enemy’s colors. Here he drew himself. Thank you, so to speak, for the tone and conditions close to combat.

But even in heaven, the laws of the genre are immutable. One of them says: you fly up - I drive you away. As it was done in strict accordance with safety rules. Well, the fact that the Americans seemed to be at a distance of one and a half meters was only to show them once again: “we are so close that words are not needed.” Just a wink is enough. Although, probably, they themselves already know that the MiG is when there is time to turn around. And then immediately “Su”. And only then run. This is probably how they will remember this episode in the psychological rehabilitation room.

There will probably be a reward waiting for them. Or, at least, a consolation prize - a bonus business trip to Afghanistan. There are definitely no Russians there. And where they exist, I mean, in Russia, the Pentagon makes it clear to them that they should be more accommodating. "Russia must comply with international standards established to ensure security." They would also demand that we provide them with full cooperation. Although...this is, in fact, what they do all the time. As for Su, the United States itself admits that due to Russian rapprochement, the P-3 mission ended ahead of schedule. That is, they wanted “pi-three”, but it turned out to be pi-pi. To put it simply, there is no need for “pi”...