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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/rillzy on 2023-09-14 13:06:33.
Russia covered up a pilot's attempt to shoot down a NATO aircraft near Ukraine, blaming it on a malfunction, report says
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Russia covered up a fighter jet pilot’s attempt to shoot down a NATO aircraft near Ukraine last year, blaming it on a malfunction, the BBC reported on Thursday.
The pilot of a Russian SU-27 fighter jet fired two missiles at a British RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft on September 29 last year.
But three senior Western defense sources with knowledge of the incident told the BBC that new intercepted communications reveal that the pilot believed that he had permission to fire at the RAF, but that he missed.
The RAF plane, which had a crew of up to 30 people, was flying a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace when it came into contact with two Russian SU-27 fighter jets.
At the time, the Russian pilots received an apparent command from their ground station controller, who according to one Western source, told them loosely: “You have the target,” the BBC reported.
The Ministry of Defence told the BBC that the incident is “a stark reminder of the potential consequences of [Vladimir] Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” but did not reveal the exact communications between the pilots.
The original article contains 385 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 51%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!