Russian aircraft buzz US Navy patrol planes, get within 5 feet, Pentagon says

There were three separate 'unprofessional' incidents, the Pentagon says.

Amid tensions over a possible invasion of Ukraine, Russian aircraft intercepted U.S. Navy patrol planes in an "unprofessional" manner three separate times over the weekend, in one incident coming within five feet of an American plane, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The Boeing-made U.S. P-8A aircraft are designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, according to the Navy.

"The U.S. flight crews were flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea at the time of these intercepts," DOD spokesman Capt. Mike Kafka said in a statement Wednesday.

CNN was first to report a close encounter between U.S. and Russian aircraft.