Two RAF Typhoons were reportedly deployed following concerns of a suspected Russian bomber approaching UK airspace today
RAF fighter jets have been scrambled over concerns of a suspected Russian bomber approaching the UK, according to reports.
Two RAF Typhoons are said to have been deployed from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland today. A Voyager refuelling jet also took off from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The planes flew towards Shetland.
According to The Telegraph, an unidentified Russian warplane remained outside British airspace. The Typhoons later returned to their base as the Russian plane did not need to be intercepted.
Sources told the publication that the deployment of British fighter jets tracking the Russian aircraft was part of a wider NATO response.
This comes after two Russian Bear-F Tu-142 long-range aircraft were intercepted by six Typhoons as they travelled towards the UK in 2020. And in recent weeks Russian warships and submarines have passed close to UK waters.
The UK and allies tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines loitering over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic for a month before they retreated, John Healey revealed earlier this month.
A British warship and aircraft were deployed to deter “malign” activity by Moscow in waters off the UK’s northern coast, the Defence Secretary said.
He said Vladimir Putin had sought to capitalise on the world being “distracted” by the Iran war and that he poses “the primary threat to UK security”.
Addressing the Russian president, Mr Healey said: “We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”
Mr Healey told a press conference in Downing Street that in the past few weeks – while many eyes were trained on the Middle East crisis – the UK, in partnership with Norway and other allies, responded to “increased Russian activity” in the Atlantic north of the UK.
This involved a Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from Russia’s ministry of defence deep sea research programme known as Gugi (Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research), he said.
Mr Healey said: “In response to the Russian submarines, I can confirm that I deployed our armed forces to track and to deter any malign activity by these vessels.
“A Royal Navy warship and Royal Air Force P-8 aircraft alongside allies ensured that the Russian submarines were monitored 24/7.
“The Akula submarine subsequently retreated home, having been closely tracked throughout and we continued to monitor the two Gugi submarines in and around wider UK waters.
“Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored, that their movements were not covert, as President Putin planned, and that their attempted secret operation had been exposed. Those Gugi submarines have now left UK waters and headed back north.”
He said 500 British personnel were involved in the month-long operation that has now concluded. The operation saw RAF crews fly more than 50 sorties using P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft, with support from allied countries including Norway.
