Russian jet causes ‘dangerous’ near collision after flying close to RAF spy plane

UK government calls incident ‘unacceptable’ after Su-27 jet comes within six metres of unarmed spy plane over Black Sea

A Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary John Healey.

An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint flying close to its nose, potentially risking a collision that could have triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.