Video Norway released of its F-16 nearly colliding with a Russian fighter jet. “What the hell,” says Norwegian pilot:
http://video-api.wsj.com/api-video/player/iframe.html?guid=05B69B19-DE5D-4CA9-9E44-FB4304FA8B01
A Russian jet fighter came within a mere 60 feet of a NATO F-16 in an incident that could have ended with a disastrous mid-air collision in the skies over Norway — and the Norwegian military caught the whole frightening encounter on video. Norway made the incredible video public on Sunday, to add visual proof of Russia’s increasing military brinksmanship.
The video is viewable above. According to the Norwegian military, the plane that appears directly in front of the Norwegian NATO F-16 in the video is a Russian Mig-31, during an incident in which Norway scrambled two of its own jet fighters to intercept a Russian fighter jet flying in international airspace, but dangerously close to Norway.
The Wall Street Journal reported the incident, and posted the video on Monday, saying that Norway’s military declined to say when the potentially deadly encounter — in which the Russian fighter jet cuts off the F-16 like a bad driver on the freeway — actually occurred, only that it illustrated the growing risk from Russian jets engaging in hazardous fly-bys near NATO territory.
“We could have had a collision between the aircraft,” said Norwegian Armed Forces spokesperson Brynjar Stordal. “The pilot has a spontaneous reaction in the video, and both his comment and the evasive maneuver indicate that this is unwanted. We don’t know if this was a mistake by the Russian pilot, or a sign of a more aggressive behavior by the Russians.”
On the video, the pilot is heard to say, in Norwegian, “What the hell?” as the Russian jet suddenly appears in front of his F-16, forcing him to take sudden evasive action to avoid a mid-air catastrophe.
In the final days of October, Norwegian jets intercepted two Russian jet fighters off Finnmark in North Norway. But that incident was remarkable for the fact that the Russian jets in that case were not the standard MiGs, as in the video released Sunday, but were actually Su-34 jets — the latest and most powerful jets to join the Russian Air Force, added only earlier this year.
In that incident, Norway took and released photos of the state-of-the-art Russian jet.
Censor.NET: 02. December 2014
Great Britain is extremely concerned by Russian Federation warplanes’ aggressive behavior
Russia behaves very aggressively ‘testing’ British air space.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated told Reuters,Censor.NET reports citing Europeiska Pravda.
"The extremely aggressive probing of our air space by Russian aircraft is an issue of concern to us," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told a committee of British lawmakers.
According to him, NATO countries should unite in response to the changes that have occurred in the relations between Russia and the Alliance.
"It is entirely appropriate for NATO countries in particular to work together to respond to what is a change of Russia's dealings with NATO and indeed the non-NATO European countries," Hammond said.
Mr Hammond said he did not accept this, saying the government had to be "careful not to play all the cards in our hand and leave ourselves in a position where further Russian aggression can't be responded to," BBC reports.
He said the UK was not taking action unilaterally, and stressed the importance of having "solidarity" in the response across Europe.
Recall, the Russian military aircrafts are more frequently registered in the air space of Europe.
In particular, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Alliance fighters have scrambled more than 400 times to intercept the Russian Federation military aircrafts.
At the same time, he noted that the Russian warplanes act aggressively but basically do not violate the airspace.
Censor.NET: 02. December 2014
France explained to Russia that Mistral ships delivery depends directly on stabilization of Ukraine's crisis
The deliveries of Mistral helicopter carriers were postponed until the situation in Ukraine is stable again.
This was announced by France's ambassador to Russian Federation Jean-Maurice Ripert, reports Europravda.
"The President ( François Hollande) confirmed some time ago that deliveries of Mistral carriers can be only postponed to the time when the situation in Ukraine makes such deliveries possible," the ambassador said answering a question about whether the situation in Ukraine is the only factor for the delivery.
The first helicopter carrier of Mistral type, "Vladivostok" ship, was supposed to be transferred by France to Russian Fleet on Nov. 14. The president of France decided earlier not to deliver the ship to Russia because of the crisis in the eastern Ukraine.
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