RAF fighter jets intercept Russian bombers over North Sea

LONDON, U.K. - In what became the latest incident in which Britain’s military was engaged in a stand off with Russia, RAF Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled as they tried to intercept Russian planes.

In the incident just before 9.30 am on Monday morning, the planes reportedly took off from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray on the coast of Scotland and intercepted Russian supersonic ‘Blackjack’ bombers over the North Sea, just as they were approaching U.K. airspace.

According to reports, they were flying towards two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers at about 28,000ft off the east coast of Scotland when two Typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth picked them up about 30 miles from U.K. airspace and escorted them.

The two long-range Russian bombers - Tupolev Tu-160s, which the NATO calls Blackjacks approached within less than 50 miles of the U.K., flying past Norway and Denmark and near the Netherlands.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has argued that “at no point” did the bombers enter British sovereign airspace.

The MoD argued in its statement that at their closest, the Russian aircraft were within 30 nautical miles (34.5 miles) of the U.K.’s airspace - around 40 nautical miles (46 miles) from British soil.

The MoD spokesman said, “We have got jets up in the air monitoring the situation but we have not intercepted anything.”

It noted that the fighters were supported by a Voyager air-to-air tanker.

According to experts, Blackjacks make flights close to the U.K. airspace, about eight to nine times a year.
In recent months, there has been an increase in diplomatic tensions between Moscow and the west.

The latest incident comes joins a series of aerial stand-offs over the North Sea between the Royal Air Force and the Russian Air Force.

There has also been a rise in activity by Russia around the Baltic states, where the RAF is also deployed.

In a statement, an RAF spokesman said, “We can confirm that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers approaching the UK area of interest. The Russian aircraft were initially monitored by a variety of friendly nation fighters and subsequently intercepted by the RAF in the North Sea. At no point did the Russian aircraft enter sovereign U.K. airspace.”

Earlier this month, on January 8, HMS Westminster, a Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate, was reportedly tasked to intercept two of Vladimir Putin's warships and two supporting vessels as they passed close to U.K. waters.

Before that, in the month of September, RAF jets were also scrambled from Lossiemouth to intercept Russian bombers.