USS Donald Cook incident

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USS Donald Cook in the eastern Mediterranean on April 9 2018 only 100 km from Tartus preparing for a U.S. missile strike on Syria

Claims

Reliable sources

"Apparently, the Americans have not forgotten the April 2014 incident when one Su-24 practically 'blacked out' all of the electronics on board the newest American destroyer Donald Cook," the source said.
According to documentary film Crimea-the road to the Motherland (Крым. Путь на Родину) , Russia deployed in Crimea modern coast defense missile system Bastion, and made sure it is visible from space. They than illuminated Tomahawk-equipped Donald Cook, with Crimea in the range, with "Bastion" radar. At that point, Donald Cook turned back. According to Putin interview in the film, low-flying overflight was a local initiative and he was not informed; he described it as 'children play '/'hooliganism'. Some sources say SU 24 was unarmed.
  • Russia claims this bomb can DESTROY the entire US Navy - Alexander Mercouris, The Duran, April 19, 2017
    Khibiny – carried by SU-24 and SU-30 fighter bombers and operational since 2013. This was the system which was used to jam the radar systems of the US navy destroyer Donald Cooke in a notorious incident which took place during the peak of the Crimean crisis in 2014. TASS has provided the first semi-official account of what happened
  • Russia’s cutting-edge weaponry capable of ‘blinding’ enemy's army - TASS, April 19, 2017
    The Khibiny EW system differs from the previous-generation technology by its increased power and intelligence capability. It can assist in aircraft weapons control, create a deceptive electronic environment and help break through an enemy’s layered air defenses.
    This is what happened with the US destroyer Donald Cook in 2014 when the warship’s air defense systems locked on a Russian Su-24 plane.
    The data appearing on the warship’s radars put the crew at a loss: the aircraft would now and then disappear from radar screens or suddenly change its location and speed or create electronic clones of additional targets while the destroyer’s information and weaponry control combat systems were actually disabled. Considering that the warship was in the Black Sea some 12,000 kilometers away from the US territory, it was not difficult to imagine what the destroyer’s crew felt.
  • Russia able to 'neutralise US warships', report claims - Daily Mail, April 19, 2017
    Front line bomber Sukhoi Su-24 flew around the ship, which the report was equipped with the latest US defence system Aegis, the newsreader announced. The report then claims to have found an account of the incident by one of the ship's crew on social media revealing how there was 'mysticism' onboard as the ship's locating devices shut down.
    'The pride of our fleet became our shame,' the crew member is reported as saying - though their identity is not revealed.

Analysis

Russian EW capabilities

See Russian electronic warfare

Baltic Sea, 2016

  • While in operational proximity to the Russian naval base of the Baltic Fleet, the principle of freedom of navigation of US Navy destroyer does not negate the principle of freedom of aeronautics of Russian aircraft, according to Russian MOD Konashenkov.
'aeronautics' video, April 13, 2016

Mystery collisions

USS Fitzgerald USS (top left) and John McCain (bottom left)
Is there any way we can blame this on Putin?
Putin sinks HNoMS Helge Ingstad

USS Fitzgerald

USS John S McCain

HNoMS Helge Ingstad

Reaction

Cyber attack?

  • USS McCain crash caused by cyber attack? - Fox Business Videos, August 22, 2017
  • China suspected after crashes of USS John S McCain and USS Fitzgerald - Deborah Haynes, The Times, August 25 2017
    A former Royal Navy officer said that the movements of the Guang Zhou Wan, a Chinese commercial vessel, could be significant in explaining the fatal crash off Singapore that left at least one sailor dead. A further nine are missing. Tracking data indicates that the tanker that collided with USS John S McCain was followed by the Chinese vessel, which appeared to steer out of the way before the incident.
    “You get the impression that fleet forces command are going to be looking at wider potential problems — hacking, crew training, how they are navigating, validating of ship-watch…
  • Is The U.S. Navy Being Truthful With Its Report On Recent Crash Incidents? - ZeroHedge, November 4, 2017
    The military is examining whether compromised computer systems were responsible for one of two U.S. Navy destroyer collisions with merchant vessels that occurred in recent months, Vice Admiral Jan Tighe, the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, said on Thursday.
    Naval investigators are scrambling to determine the causes of the mishaps, including whether hackers infiltrated the computer systems of the USS John S. McCain ahead of the collision on Aug. 21, Tighe said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
  • Official report -crew errors, no impression of cyber attack.

Investigation

2021

See also HMS Defender incident