A Russian Su-27 jet intercepted a U.S. RC-135U reconnaissance plane that was closing in on the territory of the Russian Federation. Unable to identify the radar target, the Russian Air Force deployed the interceptor, forcing the U.S.’ plane to change course. Meanwhile, experts stress that the U.S. is acutely aware of Russia’s disadvantage with regards to defending the country against a possible nuclear first strike while both U.S., Russian and NATO nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

An official spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Gen. Maj. Igor Konashenkov, told the press, on Saturday, that a Russian Su-27 fighter interceptor jet, on April 7, intercepted the U.S. American RC-135U reconnaissance plane.

The RC-135U was reportedly approaching the territory of the Russian Federation over the Baltic Sea. The Russian Su-27 forced the U.S. plane to change its course.

Gen. Maj. Konashenkov stressed that the American RC-135U, which he described as “spy plane” had shut off its transponder, making it impossible for the Russian radar facilities to identify the plane. Konashenkov would add the reassuring words that “no extraordinary situation occurred” when the Su-27 circled around the RC-135U reconnaissance plane.

He added that it is up to the Russian command to assess the professional qualities of the Russian pilots while the United States’ reconnaissance planes can perform routine flights only along U.S. borders.

The statement came in response to an earlier statement issued by the Pentagon. The U.S. DoD insisted that the RC-135U was performing “a routine flight on April 7″. The Pentagon would also stress that the American plane was “intercepted in an unsafe manner”.

Playing “Chicken” with Nukes on Hair Trigger Alert.

The incident would hardly have been worth mentioning had NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” and NATO’s post cold war assurances not to deploy NATO troops to any of the former Warsaw Pact nations been kept.

Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas stressed in an interview with l’Humanité.fr that this understanding was perceived as “the essence of peace”. Dumas’ statement has repeatedly been confirmed and stressed by the last Soviet Head of State Michael Gorbachev. The United States, for its part, insists that this was “only an oral agreement that hadn’t been written down in any treaty”.

If NATO’s eastwards expansion “stressed” relations, the post 2001 change in the United States’ nuclear posture has repeatedly led to situations where relations between the nuclear armed “Partners for Peace”were stressed to the limit.

Thodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy, MIT, who has a unique insider perspective into the scientific data that led to the U.S. – Soviet agreement to reduce nuclear weapons during the Reagan Administration warns that the risk of an unwanted nuclear war is today, arguably, greater than it was during the Cuban missile crisis.

Speaking during a symposium on The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction held on February 28 – March 1, 2015 at the New York Academy of Medicine, Dr. Postol stressed that the United States is aware of Russia’s disadvantage with regards to the deployment of satellites which could recognize a possible first strike by the United States or other NATO members. Postol also stressed Russia’s disadvantage with regards to “over the horizon radar” capabilities.

Dr. Postol noted that this situation forces Moscow into a position where it has only minutes to decide whether it is being attacked and whether or not to launch a counter-strike.

He added that the current U.S. policy with regard to Ukraine has led to deteriorating this volatile situation even further.

Postol stressed, unambiguously, that Russia’s disadvantage with regards to a space-based early warning system “is one of the gravest dangers to the United States”.

Other expert speakers at the symposium would stress that the latest climate models clearly show that even a so-called limited nuclear exchange, wanted or unwanted, would have a catastrophic impact on the global climate, leading to the death of billions.

Arguably, on April 7, the Pentagon played “chicken” with Russia, notwithstanding the fact that the immediate result could be “fried chicken” throughout Europe, Russia and the USA; And notwithstanding the fact that a few persons have to make life and death decisions for people throughout the world, within minutes.

CH/L – nsnbc 12.04.2015