Putin tests UK patience as RAF jets SCRAMBLED to intercept Russian fighter jets
RAF fighter jets have scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft in the Black Sea for the second time in a week, it has been revealed.
By JOE DUGGAN
Express.co.uk
Sat, Aug 25, 2018
The RAF Typhoons took off from their air base in Romania on Thursday after a Russian Be-12 maritime patrol plane was spotted heading across the Black Sea from Crimea.
It was the second time this week RAF jets interrupted the path of Russian patrols in the area, and the fifth such incident since April.
On Tuesday, two Typhoons were scrambled to follow two suspected Russian Su-30 Flanker aircraft.
The RAF said the Typhoons on Thursday were deployed to “deter provocative Russian aircraft and reassure Romania and Nato allies”.
Britain’s Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster, spoke of UK concerns over “an ever more assertive Russia” in a July speech.
Mr Lancaster revealed the RAF has intercepted Russian military aircraft more than 80 times over the past ten years.
Amid escalating tension, the RAF forced back six Russian bombers that had flown close to NATO airspace last week.
Eurofighter Typhoons were launched on August 13 after the Su-24 Fencer planes were seen, the RAF revealed.
There was “significant Russian air activity through most of the night” before the jets returned to their Crimea base.
Around 150 UK personnel are based at the RAF’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Romanian base.
They have been based there at the request of the Romanian government since April 17.
Nato bolstered security on its eastern flank following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, with the RAF deploying Typhoons in recent years.
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