Two long-range bombers from Russia are spotted by the Royal Airforce. You are crossing British area of interest.
Lossiemouth/Scotland – For the second day in a row, the Royal Air Force reported on Thursday (02/03/22) that Typhoon warplanes had intercepted Russian long-range bombers and escorted them out of the UK’s area of interest. This is reported by various media such as independent.co.uk and news.sky.com, citing Reuters.
Two Tu-95 Bear H and Tu-142 Bear F aircraft each approached British areas of interest on Wednesday (02.02.22), but did not penetrate British airspace, but were in the air over neutral waters in the Atlantic .
After the Typhoon aircraft also had to move out on Thursday (03.02.22), the media quoted an RAF spokesman: “We will not be releasing any further details on this ongoing operation until it is completed.”
The RAF fighter jets took off from RAF Airport at Lossiemouth, Moray, on both days, supported by a Voyager tanker aircraft from Brise Norton in Oxfordshire.
After the incident, there was a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which discussed the Ukraine conflict.
RAF jets escort Russian bombers – is the incident related to the Ukraine conflict?
The RAF confirmed that the Typhoon aircraft intercepted and escorted four Russian Bear aircraft on Tuesday (1.2.22). She also said she “routinely” intercepts, identifies and escorts Russian planes as they “cross international airspace within Britain’s area of interest.” An area of interest is airspace for which a nation is in some way responsible for example due to air traffic control services.
George Allison, editor of Britain’s Defense Journal, said via Twitter that one of the planes had broadcast a specific transponder code, meaning the plane was carrying out a NATO mission to maintain airspace security.
The Navy also monitors Russian military activities
According to news.sky.com, the RAF has confirmed that it is working closely with NATO partners to monitor such aircraft in international airspace.
The Royal Navy and the armed forces of other countries also routinely monitor Russian military activities, most recently two Russian naval ships in the English Channel. The French military monitored the Russian ships Soobrazitelniy and Stoykiy in January, but then relinquished responsibility to the US Navy frigate HMS Argyle and USS Roosevelt. The Russian state news agency Tass reported on January 24 that the two Russian ships had left Kaliningrad to conduct “combat exercises”. (Tanja Koch)
