Russia scrambled two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to escort a pair of US B-1B strategic bombers over the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday, an incident that coincided with a visit to the region by the US secretary of defense.
The supersonic US Cold war-era planes were originally designed to carry nuclear bombs and missiles but now carry conventional payloads.
Russian fighter crews identified the aerial targets as two US Air Force supersonic strategic B-1B bombers, accompanied by two KC-135 refuelling planes, and escorted them over the waters of the Black Sea,” the defence ministry said in a statement accompanied by video footage of the US aircraft in flight.
After the foreign warplanes had been turned away from Russia’s state border, the Russian fighters safely returned to their home air base
