‘What The Hell?’ — A Russian Fighter Comes Dangerously Close To A NATO F-16

Russia hasn't been playing very nice in the air over the past few months.

Over a period of just two days in October, NATO intercepted a "large number" of Russian jets or bombers moving toward European airspace, according to The Washington Post. All together, NATO has conducted more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft in 2014 — nearly three times the number from last year.

Also Read: A Top US Navy Officer Thinks That One Of The F-35's Most Hyped Capabilities is 'Overrated'

In a new video released out of Norway, we see how provocative one such incident can be, as a Russian fighter gets dangerously close to a very surprised pilot in an F-16.

"The Russian pilot's behavior was not quite normal," said Norwegian armed forces spokesman Brynjar Stordal about the 26-second film clip released on Sunday, according to The Daily Mail. In the video, which shows the heads up display of the F-16, a Russian MiG-31 gets so close the Norwegian pilot quickly turns left to get out of the way.

"What the hell?" the pilot says.

David Cenciotti writes at The Aviationist:

As said, the footage does not show the close call: all we can see is the F-16 roll to the left while approaching the Mig-31 (that appears to be flying more or less straight when it enters the HUD field of view). Nevertheless, Norwegian authorities said the video proves how dangerous and aggressive Russian pilots are during such close encounters that have become quite frequent in the Nordic region of Europe.

Now watch the video:

NOW: 11 Killer Photos of Jets In Full Afterburner

OR: Can You Identify These Jets?. Take the quiz