US Air Force plane intercepted by Russian jet

A US Air Force reconnaissance plane was intercepted by a Russian SU-27 jet in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner while in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

"The US aircraft was operating in international airspace and at no time crossed into Russian territory," Laura Seal, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said of Thursday's incident.

It came shortly after Russian aircraft repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook this past week, including an incident on Tuesday in which a Russian Su-24 flew 30 feet above the war ship in a "simulated attack profile", according to the US military's European Command.