Royal Air Pressure Hurricane fighter jets stationed in Scotland have been despatched to intercept a Russian navy aircraft that was working near UK airspace. The plane was recognized as a Tu-142 maritime patrol plane, also referred to as Bear-F by NATO. It approached from the northeast and flew into worldwide airspace over the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean on Sunday. In response, Royal Air Pressure jets had been dispatched from Lossiemouth to intercept the Russian plane.
Norwegian F-35A fighter jets had been additionally launched to watch the Russian menace as a part of NATO’s response.
Nevertheless, at no level through the incident did it enter UK sovereign airspace.
An RAF Hurricane pilot stated the melee “demonstrated the shut working relationship now we have with our NATO allies.”
He continued: “After scrambling to intercept the Russian plane, we had been in shut contact with RAF Battlespace Managers, who guided us in direction of the plane and relayed full orders.
“Ensuring we may verify the place they had been and what they had been doing always.”
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A Voyager plane from RAF Brize Norton additionally supplied further air-to-air refueling assist.
Whereas the Nationwide Air and Area Operations Heart at RAF Excessive Wycombe and the Air Surveillance and Management System at RAF Boulmer supplied command and management.
QRA procedures embrace having RAF holding plane and crews on the fly inside minutes and on fixed excessive readiness to intercept any unidentified plane with a purpose to defend UK sovereign airspace.
In March final yr, Russian planes had been intercepted by RAF Typhoons flying near Scotland on three separate events in the identical week.
In response to reviews of two Russian Blackjacks touring north of Stornoway, two jets had been launched from RAF Lossiemouth as a part of the RAF’s fast response warning programme.
Russian Tupolev Tu-160 plane, that are used as supersonic strategic bombers and long-range maritime patrol plane, had been concerned.
The Tu-160 plane had been constructed by the Tupolev Design Bureau within the Soviet Union within the 1970s and maintain the excellence of being the most important and heaviest navy plane able to flying at speeds above Mach 2.
In March final yr, RAF fighter jets had been twice dispatched to intercept Russian planes flying close to Scotland.
On one event, two Russian Blackjacks had been reported to be touring north of Stornoway, which led to 2 RAF Typhoons being launched as a part of the Fast Response Alert programme.
The incident got here simply after 4 RAF fighters had been scrambled to forestall Russian bombers from getting into British airspace.
Commenting on the state of affairs, Chief of the Air Workers Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston stated that these Russian bombers had been a threat to industrial flights.
The air power chief stated: “These Russian bombers don’t adjust to worldwide air visitors guidelines, are a hazard to airliners and will not be welcome in our airspace.”