By DPA
Washington : US fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers that approached an aircraft carrier on the weekend over the western Pacific Ocean, a US Navy spokesman said.
Four F/A-18s took off from the USS Nimitz as the Tupolev 95s neared the carrier. One of the Tupolevs flew over the Nimitz at an altitude of about 600 metres, said Mark Matsunaga, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet in Honolulu Monday.
The bombers were each trailed by two F/A-18s, which picked up the course of the Russian planes as they neared the carrier fleet early Saturday, Matsunaga said.
Such encounters have been rare since the end of the Cold War, but tension between Washington and Moscow has peaked recently amid US plans to base a missile-defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The Saturday encounter ended without incident, and there was never verbal communication between the US and Russian pilots, Matsunaga said.
Russia began stepping up Pacific bomber flights last year while Washington and Moscow engaged in verbal sparring over the missile-defence plans. Russia has strongly objected to the placement of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic.