RAF scrambles to see off Russian bombers
THE RAF scrambled Typhoon jets yesterday to intercept two Russian long-range bombers as they approached the UK.
The Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) aircraft met the Tupolev TU-160 Blackjacks over the North Sea and, supported by a Voyager air-to-air tanker, shadowed the Russians as they approached to within about 35 miles of Britain’s airspace.
An RAF spokesman would not confirm how many Typhoons were involved in the operation. ‘The Russian aircraft were initially monitored by a variety of friendly nation fighters and subsequently intercepted by the RAF,’ they said. ‘At no point did the Russian aircraft enter sovereign UK airspace.’
The supersonic Blackjacks have regularly made sorties near the UK in recent months as the Russians intensify their military activity in the region.
This latest show of strength comes amid warnings from a former head of the RAF that the Kremlin is developing technology to take over drones electronically and turn them against their operator.
Sir Michael Graydon said it would be ‘foolish’ for Britain to become too reliant on the unmanned machines, because there was a risk they could be hacked in future.
Just last week, Russia said it foiled a drone attack on one of its bases in Syria by jamming some of the aircraft electronically, forcing them to land. Sir Michael said students in the US have already taken the technology a stage further by hacking into systems and taking over drones. ‘You could then turn them around on the people who launched them,’ said Sir Michael.
‘This is why it is so foolish to have total reliance on drones. If you do then you should not be surprised when someone takes control of them.’
He said he was worried the UK had become so ‘utterly dependent’ on electronics that it could be ‘caught short in the event of an armed conflict’. The take- over of drones would ‘create mayhem’, he added.