Last night, the Royal Air Force (RAF) launched fighter jets to intercept a Russian military plane that was flying dangerously near to NATO airspace.
In the most recent aircraft skirmish, two Sukhoi Su-27 flankers and a Tupolev Tu-134 from the Russian Navy hovered dangerously close to NATO airspace Friday night.
Last night, the British air force posted images to Twitter of two RAF Typhoon warplanes flying over Estonia to meet the Russian aircraft.
‘This evening, RAF Typhoons from 140 EAW in Estonia were scrambled to intercept a Russian Navy Tu-134 and 2x Su-27 ‘FLANKER’ Bs flying close to Nato airspace,’ the RAF tweeted.
‘The Russian aircraft failed to comply with international norms by not liaising with regional airspace control agencies.’
In one photo, a Typhoon jet can be seen closely following the larger Tu-134 with ‘Baltic Fleet’ written on the side.
The Typhoons were assembled from the 140 Expeditionary Air Wing in Estonia
Similar scenes unfolded last month when RAF Typhoons set off from an Estonian airbase to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 ‘Coot’ A spy plane and Su-27 ‘Flanker’ B bomber.
The Typhoons were joined by Swedish Air Force Gripens.
But just a day later, Typhoons were redeployed to intercept one AN12 ‘CUB’ and one AN72 ‘Coaler’ flying south from mainland Russia towards the Kaliningrad Oblast.
They were later re-tasked to meet with ttwo Tupolev Tu-22M ‘Backfires’ and two Su-30 SM Flanker H, also flying south from mainland Russia over the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea.