British jets were deployed on Monday morning to respond to two Russian bombers flying north of Scotland’s Shetland Islands, the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The ministry said the jets tracked two long-range Russian Tu-142 maritime patrol bombers as they passed through the Shetland Islands in the North Sea “within NATO’s Northern Air Policing Area”.
The Royal Air Force’s Typhoon jets were dispatched from RAF Lossiemouth, a military airfield at Moray in the north east of Scotland, and were joined by a Voyager tanker that remained airborne during the mission to assist mid-flight if necessary. to fuel.
“RAF teams at Lossiemouth are constantly monitoring British airspace and are always ready to act at any time to keep our country safe,” Defense Secretary James Heappey said in a statement.
“Pilots launched their Typhoon jets to intercept and monitor two long-range Russian bombers this morning as they passed north of the Shetland Islands, ready to fight any possible threat to the British mainland,” he added.
The Typhoons returned to their base, according to the ministry.
Incidents involving Russian and Western aircraft have increased in recent months in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Source: DN
