A Russian fighter jet pursued a US reconnaissance plane to Sweden the day after the crash of MH17

A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane had no choice but to fly into Swedish airspace without permission to evade a Russian jet fighter just a day after a missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, U.S. military officials admit.

The plane, an RC-135 Rivet Joint, was conducting electronic surveillance of the Russian military when the Russians began tracking it with ground-based radar, eventually sending a jet fighter to intercept the plane, CNN reported.

RC-135 Rivet Joint

Escaping the pursuit, the spy plane entered Swedish airspace without permission and may have flown over other countries without their knowledge, though military sources declined to confirm to CNN which countries might be included on that list.

"We recognize that the American aircraft returned to Swedish airspace and will take proactive measures to ensure proper communication with the Swedish authorities, providing early warning to prevent similar problems before they arise," the US State Department told CNN in a statement on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear the direction of the reconnaissance aircraft when the Russian radar tracked it - it may have been over the Baltic Sea, which would explain its flight into Swedish airspace in an attempt to escape the Russian interceptor.

Russian military officials did not comment on the flight of the reconnaissance plane in the Western media, but this incident is only one of the latest close encounters between American and Russian aircraft. In April, a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet flew within 100 feet of an American RC-135U reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of ​​Okhotsk between Russia and Japan.

An American intelligence report, released a few days after the MH17 disaster killed all 298 passengers, confirmed that while Kremlin-backed rebels are believed to have shot down the plane, American spies almost certainly controlled the region at the same time.

Source: ibtimes.com