Skip to main content

UK Scrambled Jets To Respond To Russian Aircraft 21 Times In 3 Weeks

UK fighter jets have been scrambled to respond to Russian aircraft 21 times in the last three weeks, under NATO's air policing operations in Europe's Baltic region, Britain said late Saturday.

The Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters, currently operating out of Estonia, are part of so-called "quick reaction alert" aircraft used by the Western alliance to secure its eastern European flank.

Their response comes amid heightened tensions with Moscow over its ongoing war in Ukraine, which has been temporarily overshadowed this weekend by a mutiny within Russia by the Wagner paramilitary group.

The UK Typhoons, which have been operating out of an Estonian air base since March, were launched to monitor the Russian aircraft when they failed to respond to air traffic agencies, Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.

They are policing the skies above the Baltics alongside Portuguese and Romanian air forces based in Lithuania, it noted.

The Russian aircraft intercepted included Su-27 fighter jets as well as long-range bombers, and transport and intelligence collection aircraft.

Quick reaction alert missions see NATO air force crews maintain "constant high readiness to ensure they can get airborne at a moment's notice," according to Britain's defence ministry.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the intercepts were "a stark reminder of the value of collective defence and deterrence provided by NATO". 

"The RAF has operated alongside our allies over the last three weeks to ensure both member states and our partner nations are protected, and they can be assured of our ongoing commitment to strengthening European security alongside those who share our values," he added.

While deployed to Estonia, the RAF has also taken part in several major aerial exercises with NATO allies, including "Exercise Air Defender", which the ministry described as the largest since the end of the Cold War.

It featured more than 250 aircraft and 10,000 personnel from 25 nations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/FKacvT2

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Now The Most Popular Name For A Baby In Great Britain, Data Shows

427 years after William Shakespeare wrote it for the first time in the great "tragedy" Romeo & Juliet, England is asking the quintessential question - "What's in a name?" - And this time wondering what significance that question might hold in another 42.7 years. The Department of Statistics in the United Kingdom has revealed in its latest dataset that Muhammad is officially the most popular name for a newborn boy in England and Wales. More than 4,600 babies were registered with that name in 2023 - the highest for a boy. Muhammad was the second-most popular name in 2022 as well. Noah, once the most popular name in UK, came a distant second this year, according to the Office for National Statistics or ONS. But the staff at Great Britain's statistical office has in-fact been observing the trend for a while now. Jotting down the most popular names in the UK, besides other important statistics, it revealed that Muhammad has been among the top 10 names for...
Post a Comment
Read more

US Issues $25-Million Bounty On Venezuela President On Day Of His Oath

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis, was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute, international calls for him to stand aside and an increase in the US reward offered for his capture. Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July's election by both Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published. Venezuela's opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognized as president-elect by several countries including the United States. International election observers said the vote was not democratic. The months since the election have seen Gonzalez's flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Official, Kamala Harris Is Democratic Candidate For US Election

US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November's showdown against Republican Donald Trump. Kamala Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month. "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Kamala Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote. In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris has gained full control of the party. No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party's nomination a formality. The a...
Post a Comment
Read more