Russian Bombers Barrel Toward British Airspace, RAF Jets Take To Skies To Stage Intercept

A pair of Russian bombers capable of delivering nuclear bombs were spotted flying toward British airspace on Thursday, their intentions unknown — until the Royal Air Force scrambled Typhoon fighter jets from its air base in Lossiemouth, Scotland. The RAF jets cut off the Russian “Bear” bombers and escorted them out of the area.

The intercept comes just two days after British RAF Typhoons stationed with the NATO Baltic Policing contingent were forced to scramble over the Baltic Sea to make sure that a Russian spy plane kept clear of Estonia, a former Soviet republic that has been a NATO ally for the past 11 years.

The British defense ministry said that the seemingly ominous flights by Russian aircraft have been so frequent that they are almost routine, and that the two Tupolev Tu-95 bombers — a Soviet-era aircraft known informally as “The Russian Bear” — were never considered a serious threat to Britain.

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