The Russian jets flew just 15ft away from the British aircraft before releasing a missile (Picture: Getty Images)
An RAF plane came terrifyingly close to being shot down by Russians over the Black Sea last year, intelligence documents have reportedly revealed.
An RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance plane, also known as ‘the nuke sniffer’ was flying close to Russian-occupied Crimea when a squadron of Su-27 fighters was just 15ft away.
One ‘released a missile in the vicinity’ of the British spy jet, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said at the time.
But leaked US military documents claim the missile launch in September came close to striking the RAF aircraft.
The worrying incident happened in September
They describe it as ‘a near-shoot down of UK RJ (Rivet Joint)’, MailOnline reports.
The incident could have dragged the UK, and its Nato allies, directly into the Ukraine war.
The Kremlin blamed a technical malfunction, and Mr Wallace agreed to accept this explanation and drew a line under the incident.
A UK defence source has argued that the US documents have it wrong, telling MailOnline: ‘These reports contain inaccuracies and do not reflect what happened in International air space over the Black Sea.’
The RAF regularly flies over the Black Sea to gather intelligence.
The role of the Rivet Joint aircraft is to hoover up electronic transmissions and communications.
Ever since the incident, RAF surveillance planes are escorted by Typhoon fighters – while the US has chosen to use unmanned drones instead.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder has stressed that it is vital the Black Sea and the skies above it are kept open to all nations.
An RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane, known as a ‘nuke sniffer’ was gathering intelligence above the Black Sea (Credits: Shutterstock / VanderWolf Images)
‘The Black Sea is a critical international seaway supporting many of our Nato allies, including Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and does not belong to any one country,’ he said last month.
His comments came after a Russian fighter jet accidentally crashed into a US drone.
It lead to the US and Russia racing to recover the debris, with Russian ships spotted at the crash site on March 15.
The Pentagon insisted the parts could not be retrieved and any intelligence had been wiped.
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Russian jets apparently launched a missile within 15ft of the British spy plane.