Two Russian Su-24M attack jets made extremely close passes on a the HNLMS Evertsen, a Dutch air defense frigate, on Tuesday, according to the Dutch navy.
The Russian jets got within 200 meters of the ship, though it’s not immediately clear if they were armed. The Dutch frigate has advanced radars and surface to air missiles, but the Dutch navy maintains it did not see the Russian jets as a threat.
Watch footage of the incident below:
In the event of an actual attack, it’s likely that the Russian jets would have fired long range missiles without risking getting so close to the Evertsen, which is heavily armed.
Russian jets have a long history of menacing NATO ships in the Baltic sea, as the US Navy’s USS Donald Cook guided-missile destroyer was repeatedly harassed with “simulated attacks” from Su-24s in the region in 2016.
At the time, retired US Navy Capt. Rick Hoffman described the passes as an annoyance, but not an act of war.
“You don’t get to kill people just because they’re being annoying,” Hoffman told the Navy Timesabout the incident.
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