We don’t often find ourselves getting a glimpse of what is going on in the sky.

Thanks to Russian media, we now have a video of a NATO F-16 fighter jet which “approached and was then warned away from a jet carrying Russia’s defence minister,” reports Washington Post.

It’s the latest in a “string of aerial incidents that have marked rising tensions between the West and Russia”.

The “West”. Haha.

Occurring over the Baltic Sea in northeastern Europe, Defence Minister Sergei Shoig’s jet was in international airspace which has recently been “crowded with Russian and NATO jets testing one another’s nerve in sometimes dangerous proximity” – but none of the tests had yet involved a high-ranking official.

NATO has since confirmed the intercept, saying in a statement that:

[T]hree Russian aircraft, including two fighters had been tracked over the Baltic Sea.

As the aircraft did not identify themselves or respond to air traffic control, NATO fighter jets scrambled to identify them, according to standard procedure.

NATO has no information as to who was on board. We assess the Russian pilots’ behavior [sic] as safe and professional.

Check it:

Hey, how’s that for some mild hostility.

The incident comes after the first Syrian government plane was gunned down by U.S. forces in the country. In response, Russia said it would begin tracking U.S. aircraft in Syria as potential targets.

I guess while the big boys play with their toys up in the sky, we will just have to deal with the result down on Earth.

Egos, huh?

[source:washingtonpost]