Two Russian bombers travelling north of the Shetland Islands were intercepted by jets from RAF Lossiemouth on Monday morning, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The Russian Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J maritime patrol aircraft, used for reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare, were monitored by RAF Typhoons in international air space as they passed north of the UK, within NATO’s northern air policing area.
READ MORE:
Armed Forces minister James Heappey said: “RAF crews at Lossiemouth maintain a constant watch over UK air space and are always ready to take action at a moment’s notice to keep our country safe.
“Pilots launched in their Typhoon jets to intercept two Russian long-range bombers this morning, monitoring them as they passed north of the Shetland Islands, ready to counter any potential threat to UK territory.”
A Voyager tanker was also scrambled and remained airborne for the duration of the mission to offer air-to-air refuelling, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The presence of the Voyager meant the Typhoons could remain in the air for the extended period necessary to complete their mission.
Fighter jets are constantly available at Lossiemouth, one of the RAF’s two quick reaction alert stations, to respond to threats in UK air space.
RAF pilots from Lossiemouth in Moray recently completed a four-month deployment to lead Nato’s air policing mission in Estonia, where more than 50 air intercepts of this kind were carried out.
The lead RAF Typhoon pilot in Monday’s intercept, whose name was not given by the MoD, said: “It’s really satisfying to know we’ve been able to make a successful intercept, maintaining the integrity of UK and NATO airspace.
“When the alarm for a scramble happened in the early hours of the morning, the adrenaline kicked in. Working in tandem with ground control operators, and with air-to-air refueling from an RAF Voyager, we were able to stay on task until the mission was complete, and the target aircraft departed the UK’s area of interest.” .
Russian military aircraft entering the UK Flight Information Region, the UK’s controlled zone of international air space, can pose a hazard to other aircraft, the MoD said.
An official from the ministry said such Russian aircraft often do not talk to air traffic control and refuse to “squawk” – a broadcast code used by pilots to ensure they are visible to other air users and air traffic controllers on the ground.
Earlier this year, a Russian spy plane was intercepted north of Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel