Russian SU-35 fighter jets endangered U.S. Navy submarine-hunting aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea twice last week. The military’s European Command needs to get a grip and start flying escort fighters to protect its aircrews.
As predicted, the Russians are testing the U.S. military’s ability to operate effectively amid the coronavirus pandemic. In this particular case, the Russians want to see whether they can disrupt U.S. tracking of Russian submarines in the Mediterranean, deployments of which having surged in the past couple of years. But unlike the recent Russian game playing near Alaska, these Mediterranean incidents are putting American lives at risk.
As the Navy noted in its press release on the Sunday intercept, a Russian SU-35 performed a “high-speed, high-powered maneuver that decreased aircraft separation to within 25 feet, directly in front of the P-8A, exposing the U.S. aircraft to wake turbulence and jet exhaust.”
It’s clear why the Russians don’t want the P-8As in the air. Very likely based out of Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, those American aircraft can monitor the waters around North Africa and Syria. But each time the Russian intercepts endanger the P-8As, we risk losing nine Americans.
So what should be done?
Well, Russian strategy suggests its aircrews won’t stop until they run out of their fuel allotments or face pushback. So the United States should start flying what are called “high asset value combat air patrols.” That would entail escorting the P-8As with U.S. Navy or Air Force fighter jets. Were our European allies willing to confront Russian aggression, NATO fighter escorts would also be a possibility here.
When I reached out to the Navy and asked why they weren’t currently flying escorts for the P-8As, I was told that as “a matter of policy, we don’t discuss future operations.” Fair enough. But there are ample ways to get this done.
For one thing, the U.S. Air Force has two F-16 fighter squadrons operating in Northern Italy that could, with refueling support, escort the P-8As. One of those squadrons could also be redeployed to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, which sits just above Syria and the Mediterranean Sea. Alternatively, any U.S. Air Force presence in Iraq and Syria could be employed.
Or, if the Pentagon truly wanted to send a message, it could redeploy the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group from the Arabian Sea into the Mediterranean. Or it could send the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group back to the Mediterranean, where it just came from. On that point, it is notable that these Russian antics only started once the Truman and its air wing departed the Mediterranean. The Russians know that their forces, even their capable SU-35s, can operate far more freely when lethal U.S. military platforms are absent.
Let’s not give them that incentive.
