There are stories in several papers [see Reuters ] telling the tale of a near collision of two jets in the Black Sea. One was a US P-8, a pretty big and not very maneuverable jet and a Russian SU-27 fighter which is pretty quick on its wings. The incident is described as a close encounter but that does not tell us much about how close it really was. Ten feet is close when two jets are so big. In civilian airliner circles that is called a near miss and the collision avoidance systems would be wailing away long before they got that close.
The Russian pilots are reckless. It has been demonstrated more than one recently when fighters flew low over our ships in international waters and with this one where really close doesn't do it justice. It is a microsecond from a crash they probably kills crew members on both sides. They can't do this forever without a mistake happening. Ten feet is not far enough for an error to be corrected in time. A little burst of wind shear could make that ten feet close fast. No pilot in the world is good enough to stop it.
So, what are we doing about it? So far, nothing. Our servicemen and women continue at risk on both sides until the military leaders show some sense. That sense is brought by leadership on the political level that says "Nobody needs to die to prove we have resolve." We can show the same resilience at 1000 feet that we show at 10. These hot shots need a kick in the pants.
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