Russian Su‑27 intercepts French Aircraft over Black Sea Amid Joint Manoeuvres
The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that on Tuesday, 5th of March, a Su-27 fighter jet from the Russian Federation's Aerospace Forces escorted an E-3 Sentry aircraft and two Rafales belonging to the French army over the Black Sea, as reported by the Defence Romania portal.
Russian air control systems had detected three targets heading toward the Russian Federation the previous Tuesday. The Russians informed that "to prevent the violation of the air border, a Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled" – we read. The Tass agency added that the identified targets turned out to be an early warning aircraft E-3 Sentry and two Rafale fighters. The aircraft, belonging to the French Air Force, changed course and then moved away from the Russian border upon the approach of the Russian aircraft.
Defence Romania notes that the aircraft intercepted by the Russians on 5th of March might have arrived a day earlier at the 86th Air Base Borcea in Romania. It's said that the French were conducting joint manoeuvres there, simulating intercepting hostile units alongside Romanian and Turkish F-16s.
The incident over the Black Sea: Russia scrambled a Su-27
The interceptor fighter Su-27 used by the Russian Federation's army is a model that has been produced since 1980, with development beginning in the 1970s. The production of the Su-27 continued until 2019.
The propulsion of these aircraft, managed by Sukhoi, is provided by two Saturn Liulka AL-31F turbofan twin-flow engines with a thrust of approximately 7,670 kg each. The wingspan of the Su-27 is nearly 15 metres, while its total length reaches over 21.5 metres. Weighing about 16,380 kg, the aircraft can carry a maximum of about 6,000 kg of armament on 10 hardpoints – it can be equipped with a variety of guided missiles (e.g., R-27R, R-73, or R-60). In addition, the armament of the Russian fighter includes a single GSh-31-1 caliber 30 mm cannon.
The maximum speed achieved by this design is around Mach 1.3, or about 1,350 km/h at sea level, and even Mach 2.3 (2,445 km/h) at high altitudes. The Su-27's tactical ceiling is 17,500 metres, and its range is in turn about 3,760 kilometres.
The intercepted machines belonging to the French are Boeing E-3 Sentry, an early warning and airspace surveillance aircraft, which, with the use of the panoramic radar AN/APY-1 and the radio identification system friend-or-foe INF/TADIL C, allows detecting any air objects within a range of almost 400 kilometres.
The other two machines intercepted by the Su-27 are Dassault Rafale fighters, multi-role fighters produced since the late 1990s. Suitable for all tasks, these machines move at a speed of over Mach 1.8 (2,130 km/h) and operate at a ceiling of 16,800 metres. They can carry air-to-air missiles MBDA MICA IR/EM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, air-to-ground MBDA Apache, SCALP EG, AM 39 Exocet etc.
