The UK Ministry of Defence says Russian fighter aircraft came dangerously close to an RAF intelligence-gathering plane over the Black Sea in two separate incidents last month. In one episode, a Russian Su-35 flies close enough to an RAF Rivet Joint that it triggers the aircraft’s emergency systems. In another, an Su-27 performs multiple passes in front of the Rivet Joint, including six passes close to the plane’s nose while it flies at around 500 mph, in a manner the MoD describes as risking a collision. The defence secretary John Healey characterises the encounters as “dangerous and unacceptable” and says the UK government views the behaviour as unacceptable. The Guardian reports the Su-27 came within approximately six metres of the unarmed RAF aircraft. The MoD released footage of the encounters. Russian aircraft are not described in the reports as making contact; instead, the accounts focus on the proximity, the reported triggering of emergency systems, and the potential for an incident to escalate between the two countries.