50 miles of Hainan island , where China ’s four Jin - Class ballistic missile submarines are based . A fifth is under construction . The two countries ’ navies have also come uncomfortably close around disputed islands in the same region , and the chance of a clash will be heightened by cat - and - mouse submarine operations , according to Wu Riqiang , an associate professor at the School of International Studies at the Renmin University in Beijing .
On April 14 , a U.S. Air Force RC-135U Combat Sent electronic intelligence gathering aircraft flying a routine mission ( in international airspace ) over the Baltic Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in “ an unsafe and unprofessional manner , ” Navy Capt . Danny Hernandez , U.S. European Command spokesman told the CNN . According to EUCOM , the Flanker began the barrel roll from the left side of the U.S. RC-135 and went over the top of it to end on the right side of the aircraft , an aggressive maneuver ( not compliant with the international standards ) that brought the Russian jet dangerously close to collidingdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashwith the Combat Sent . The episode comes few days after Russian Su-24s performed several low passes over a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea , and it ’s only the last in a long series of tense close encounters between American spyplanes and Russian fighters in the skies across the world . On Jan. 25 , 2016 a U.S. RC-135 intelligence gathering jet was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet over Black Sea : during the interception , the Su-27 made an aggressive turn that disturbed the controllability of the RC-135 .
1 , 2001 , a U.S. Navy EP-3E with the VQ-1 , flying an ELINT ( Electronic Intelligence ) mission in international airspace 64 miles southeast of the island of Hainan was intercepted by two PLAN ( People ’s Liberation Army Navy ) J-8 fighters . One of the J-8s piloted by Lt . Cdr . Wang Wei , made two close passes to the EP-3 before collidingdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashwith the spyplane on the third pass . As a consequence , the J-8 broke into two pieces and crashed into the sea causing the death of the pilot , whereas the EP-3 , severely damaged , performed an unauthorized landing at China ’s Lingshui airfield . The 24 crew members ( 21 men and three women ) , that destroyed all ( or at least most of ) the sensitive items and data on board the aircraft , were detained by Chinese authorities until Apr.
Tensions are also constant at NATO - Russian borders , including military maneuvers on both sides . Shortly after the Doomsday Clock was moved ominously close to midnight , the national press reported that “ U.S. military combat vehicles paraded Wednesday through an Estonian city that juts into Russia , a symbolic act that highlighted the stakes for both sides amid the worst tensions between the West and Russia since the Cold War . ” Shortly before , a Russian warplane came within seconds of collidingdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashwith a Danish civilian airliner . Both sides are practicing rapid mobilization and redeployment of forces to the Russia - NATO border , and “ both believe a war is no longer unthinkable . ” Prospects for survival
SOCHI , Russia — Three Persian leopards dashed back and forth along the far side of the enclosure , emitting low , forbidding growls . Suddenly , one charged at a Russian cameraman with a roar and a crash , 180 pounds of sleek muscle collidingdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashwith an increasingly flimsy - looking chain - link fence . At the Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Center in the foothills above Sochi , scientists funded by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry plan to begin reintroducing the cats to their native Caucasus Mountains this month . These scientists work under the patronage of President Vladimir Putin , who styles himself as a defender of rare animals — especially large , picturesque , lethal ones .
American presidents face crises like this on a regular basis . President Ronald Reagan faced a similar situation in 1988 when the US accidentally shot down an Iranian civilian aircraft . In 2001 , in one of George W. Bush ’s first foreign policy tests , a US spy plane crashed in China after collidingdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashwith a Chinese fighter jet that had been following it . Bush apologized to the Chinese . Reagan never formally apologized to the Iranians , but the two nations ultimately reached a settlement .