The Drive:

A Russian Su-27 Flanker “released” a missile during an encounter with a British Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft, the U.K. Ministry of Defense has revealed. The incident occurred over the Black Sea, which has seen increasing dramatically tensions between Russian forces and NATO, including previous close encounters involving British warships. However, a stray missile, whether released accidentally or otherwise, could conceivably have led to a lethal escalation. Regardless, Royal Air Force RC-135s are now escorted by Typhoon fighters while operating over the Black Sea as a result of the incident.

Speaking to fellow members of parliament in the House of Commons today, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace provided some details of the incident, which occurred in international airspace above the Black Sea on September 29. Many aspects of the incident remain unclear, however. The use of the term “released” means it’s not immediately obvious if the missile in question was fired cleanly from the rail, or if it somehow broke loose and fell away unguided and/or unpowered.

Wallace explained that, during the incident, the “unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint,” flying from its base at RAF Waddington in the United Kingdom, was “interacted with” by two Russian Su-27s, which shadowed it for a total of around 90 minutes. This is a very standard procedure for these kinds of flights in international airspace. However, one of those Russian fighters “released a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range.”

The wording of that last point is also a little curious since it’s not clear if the minister is describing the release of a beyond-visual-range missile, or whether the missile was released at beyond visual range in relation to the RC-135W, or both.

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