A few days ago, an intriguing video was released showing a close encounter over the Baltic Sea between an Italian Air Force F-35A (registration MM7360) and a Russian Sukhoi aircraft (possibly an SU-34, based on some cockpit details).
The two aircraft appear extremely close, with the Russian Sukhoi seemingly “closing in” on the Italian aircraft, which then maneuvers leftward to maintain a minimal safe distance. However, the Russian aircraft’s behavior does not appear to be overtly dangerous. Interestingly, the Italian pilot can also be seen recording a video or taking a photo during the encounter.
Notably, the Italian F-35A is flying with the so-called Lüneburg (or Lüneberg) lenses—radar reflectors used to deliberately make Low Observable (LO) aircraft visible to radar. These devices are mounted on the aircraft while on the ground and are employed whenever the aircraft does not need to evade radar detection (typically removed only in actual wartime scenarios).
The exact date of the video is unknown, but it does not appear to be very recent and may date back to last year.
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