BRITAIN:The RAF was involved in an encounter over the North Sea as British fighter jets, backed by an early warning aircraft, intercepted eight long-range Russian aircraft.
In the latest of a series of aerial incidents reminiscent of the cold war, four Tornado F3s were scrambled early yesterday followed by an E3 early warning radar aircraft and a refuelling tanker to shadow eight Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bears".
The Tu-95s were designed as bombers but are now frequently used for maritime reconnaissance. The aircraft, originally shadowed by Norwegian F-16s, were "approaching but not in British airspace", said the ministry of defence in London, which played down the interception as "routine Nato procedure". He added: "It is not the start of a new cold war."
Russian president Vladimir Putin served notice last month of his intention to resume long-range bomber flights which were discontinued after the fall of the Soviet Union. He said Russia was restarting the flights because other countries had failed to stick by an agreement to scrap the cold war practice.
Two of the RAF's new Eurofighter Typhoon jets were scrambled in August as a TU-95 flew over the north Atlantic. In May, two Tornados intercepted a TU-95 observing a Royal Navy exercise. Defence and diplomatic sources said such incidents were likely to become more frequent.