---
title: "Watch a Russian SU-35 buzz a Navy aircraft for the second time in just 4 days"
description: "On Monday, the Navy's official Facebook page posted video of a Russian SU-35 fighter buzzing a Navy P-8A Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft assigned to the 6th Fleet."
date: "2020-04-20"
modified: "2020-04-20"
authors:
  - name: "James Clark"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/russian-su-35-buzzes-navy-aircraft-again/"
categories:
  - "Aircraft"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Fighter Aircraft"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "Navy"
  - "News"
  - "Russia"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
tags:
  - "European Command"
---

# Watch a Russian SU-35 buzz a Navy aircraft for the second time in just 4 days

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/russian-su-35.png>)

Russian pilots once again acted out their *Top Gun* fantasies — and no, not by playing shirtless volleyball.

On Monday, the Navy's official Facebook page posted video of a Russian SU-35 fighter buzzing a Navy P-8A Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft assigned to the 6th Fleet.

The Navy P-8A was in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday when it was twice intercepted by the SU-35 in under two hours.

Though the first encounter was "deemed safe and professional," [according to a Navy statement](<https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=112689&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=100001230611049&utm_campaign=Fight&fbclid=IwAR0Hhi_ObhJ_Deu1U6eLuxTErhqNYk7jThg6TWPXcPKAY15DvY9fpvMJBWA>), the second saw the Russian aircraft conduct 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."

In response, the P-8A descended in order to put some distance between the two aircraft.

"The unnecessary actions of the Russian SU-35 pilot were inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules, seriously jeopardizing the safety of flight of both aircraft," [the Navy said of the incident](<https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=112689&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=100001230611049&utm_campaign=Fight&fbclid=IwAR0Hhi_ObhJ_Deu1U6eLuxTErhqNYk7jThg6TWPXcPKAY15DvY9fpvMJBWA>).

The April 19 intercept marked the second time in four days that a Russian aircraft got a little too close for comfort, after another Russian SU-35 pulled alongside a P-8A on April 15, and while inverted, washed the Navy aircraft with wake turbulence.

## Author
James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JamesWClark>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jclarkjournalism/>)