British Royal Air Force (RAF) scrambled fighter jets on Thursday morning to intercept Russian bomber planes that spent more than five hours skirting the edges of British airspace.
The Russian Tu-160 “Blackjack” bombers entered the UK’s area of interest from the north-east at around 10 a.m. yesterday, flying between the Shetland and Faroe islands, then down the west coast of Ireland and over the Bay of Biscay, The Independent said.
French and Spanish aircraft took over the interception but the two planes then turned around to head towards Russia, flying back into the British military’s “patch” while heading north. The bombers passed the coast of the Outer Hebrides shortly after 3 p.m.
RAF spokesman said: “We can confirm that quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers while they were in the UK area of interest. At no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK territorial airspace.”