US Navy mistakenly celebrates Independence Day with graphic showing Russian aircraft

A Twitter post from the US Pacific Fleet celebrating American Independence Day has backfired after a graphic shared by the account appeared to show a Russian jet and ship.

The graphic shared on Twitter shows a silhouette of a saluting soldier and, in the background, a ship with a formation of five jets flying overhead.

But instead of showing a US ship and jets, the graphic actually depicts Russian Su-27 Flanker aircraft and according to some, a Kashin-class destroyer.

• Ukrainian air force marks American Independence Day with painted bombs
• US Army announces prototype contracts in race to replace M2 Bradley fighting vehicle
• US Air Force's 50-state flyover marks 100 years of air refuelling

It didn't take long before the post received a number of replies, mainly poking fun at the account and suggesting the tweet was deleted – which it eventually was.