Russian Fighter Jets Fly over US Ships During NATO Baltic Exercise

Russian ships and fighter jets made their presence known during the opening days of a 17-nation strong NATO exercise in the Baltic Sea by shadowing alliance ship movements and buzzing aircraft over ship formations.
"During our formations shortly after we left port, we had some company from Russian ships shadowing us, and about mid-afternoon we were overflown by two Russian jets. They looked like Su-24s," U.S. 6th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. James Foggo, told reporters June 8. "They made a few passes and then a couple of Russian Corvettes came up on either side of the formation as we were conducting our exercises -- nothing untoward, just showing interest and showing that they know we are here."
The BALTOPS exercise, slated to take place through June 20, is an annually recurring multi-national NATO exercise designed to show the alliance is prepared and ready to defend the Baltic region.
Overall, BALTOPs includes 49 ships, 61 aircraft and one submarine, U.S. Navy officials said.
Exercises are taking place in Poland, Sweden and Germany as well as various parts of the Baltic Sea.
The Su-24 Russian fighter jet flyover comes on the heels of a recent incident in the Black Sea involving a Navy destroyer, the USS Ross.
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