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RAF Typhoon are aircraft that intercept two Russian bombers heading towards HMS Queen Elizabeth while it was on an exercise off the Scottish coast.
- RAF Typhoons were launched to intercept two Russian bombers near Norway.
- Two Tupulev 160 bombers were heading towards HMS Queen Elizabeth.
- £ 3 billion aircraft carrier was off the Scottish coast on the NATO exercise Joint Warrior
Typhoons from the Royal Air Force rushed to intercept two Russian bombers heading towards Britain’s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The two Tupulev 160 bombers were spotted flying into sovereign UK waters, heading for the £ 3bn carrier, which at the time was off the Scottish coast.
The huge ship, the largest assembly in Royal Navy history, was there on a training exercise as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group.
The group, which includes ships from the US and Dutch navy, is in the final stages of Exercise Joint Warrior, NATO’s largest annual exercise.
An RAF spokesperson said the bombers, known as Blackjacks and built to carry nuclear weapons, were not responding to air traffic control or broadcasting their location, something said to be common on Russian military aircraft.
A source told the Sun that the bombers, which flew into the Shetland Islands before returning along the west coast of Norway, were a “danger to other aircraft.”
Royal Air Force jets rushed to intercept two Russian bombers heading towards Britain’s flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, according to reports.
The two Tupulev 160 bombers (library image) were said to be flying into sovereign UK waters, heading towards the £ 3bn carrier, which at the time was off the Scottish coast.
Speaking about the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, an RAF spokesman told the newspaper: “Typhoon fighters based at RAF Lossiemouth were attacked against unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest.”
“We intercepted and escorted two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack long-range strategic bombers.”
The RAF aircraft were supported by an air-to-air refueling vessel from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
At the time of the incident, HMS Queen Elizabeth was participating in the NATO exercise, Joint Warrior, as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group.
Earlier this month, the 930-foot-long carrier was seen leading a flotilla of destroyers and frigates from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands, along with two Auxiliaries from the Royal Fleet.
In total, 3,000 people from the UK, the US and the Netherlands were said to have participated.
At the time, HMS Queen Elizabeth was participating in the NATO exercise, Joint Warrior, as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group.
HMS Queen Elizabeth embarked two squadrons of F-35B stealth jets, UK 617 Squadron and US Marine Corps 211 Combat Strike Squadron.
Along with eight Merlin helicopters from 820 and 846 naval air squadrons, it is the largest air group operating from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier in more than thirty years, and the largest air group of fifth-generation fighters at sea in any part of the world, says the Royal Armada.
The task force is the largest assembled by a European Navy in almost 20 years.
