Two Russian TU-160 Blackjack bombers were intercepted by fighter jets from four European countries as they flew from Norway towards northern Spain and back, it has emerged. The incident, which took place on 22 September, involved Norway, the UK, France and Spain scrambling aircraft as the bombers skirted each country's airspace.
The French ministry of defence confirmed the operation, describing it as an Air Policing mission. Norway first detected the bombers to the north and scrambled F-16 fighters to accompany them towards the north of Scotland. The British RAF then sent Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth to intercept the planes west of Shetland, though the Russian jets did not enter UK airspace. Additional Typhoons were launched from RAF Coningsby as a precaution.
The bombers continued south, skirting the west of Ireland, where they were intercepted by French Rafale fighters 100km off the coast of Brittany. Two further Rafale jets shadowed the bombers as they flew south. Finally, Spain scrambled F-18 fighters to intercept the Russian planes north of Bilbao, after which the bombers turned around and returned north without further incident.
Correspondents note that the frequency of such interceptions has increased markedly amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West. The incident marks the furthest south such an operation has taken place. Separately, Iceland complained that the same bombers had flown dangerously close to a civil airliner on the same day, passing 6,000-9,000ft below a flight from Reykjavik to Stockholm.
