Russian Fighter Conducts Dangerous Intercept of U.S. Recon Jet

Lets not forget about the USS Donald Cook, which the Russians shut off like a simple television set and leaving it as a sitting duck in the Black Sea, using advanced electronic warfare technology. Didn’t hear that one in the news? Don’t be so shocked.

 

Pentagon calls Black Sea aerial provocation ‘unsafe and unprofessional’

A Russian Su-27 jet fighter came within 20 feet of a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea on Monday in Moscow’s latest military provocation involving dangerous aerial encounters.

“On Jan. 25 an RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” Navy Capt. Daniel Hernandez, chief spokesman for the U.S. European Command, told the Washington Free Beacon. “We are looking into the issue.”

Defense officials said the Su-27 flew alongside the RC-135, an electronic intelligence-gathering aircraft, and then performed what they said was an aggressive banking turn away from the intelligence jet.

The thrust from the Su-27 “disturbed the controllability” of the RC-135, said one official familiar with details of the incident.

Russia delivering Iranian arms to Assad — report

Russia has reportedly been delivering Iranian weapons to Syria’s embattled regime on a daily basis. Over the past 10 days, shipments in Russian cargo planes have taken place twice daily, the Fox News network reported Thursday, citing Western intelligence sources.

“De-Dollarization” Deepens: Russia Buys Most Gold In Six Months, Continues Selling US Treasuries

The rumors of Russia selling its gold reserves, it is now clear, were greatly exaggerated as not only did Putin not sell, Russian gold reserves rose by their largest amount in six months in December to just over $46 billion (near the highest since April 2013). It appears all the “Russia is selling” chatter did was lower prices enabling them to gather non-fiat physical assets at a lower cost. On the other hand, there is another trend that continues for the Russians – that of reducing their exposure to US Treasury debt. For the 20th month in a row, Russia’s holdings of US Treasury debt fell year-over-year – selling into the strength.

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