Russian 'Nuke' Bombers Invade British Airspace

[xxMATTGxx]

Two Russian bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, have been caught flying over British airspace.

http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Mar/Week4/15582043.jpg

The unwelcome guests spent four hours flying over the Isle of Lewis despite being intercepted by two RAF jets.

A pair of 111 squadron Tornado F3 fighters took of from RAF Leuchars in Fife to locate the supersonic Tu160 bombers in the Outer Hebrides.

They shadowed the Russian aircraft as they flew south towards the coast of Northern Ireland and then turned north.

Wing Commander Mark Gorringe, commander of 111 Squadron, said: "This is not an unusual incident.

"People may be surprised to know that our crews have successfully scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft on more than 20 occasions since the start of 2009.

"Our pilots, navigators and indeed all the support personnel at RAF Leuchars work very hard to deliver the UK Quick Reaction Alert Force 24 hours a day, which can be scrambled in minutes, to defend the UK from unidentified aircraft entering our airspace, or aircraft in distress.

"It's a very important job, defending the UK and helping to keep UK citizens safe."

After being tailed for four hours, the Russians eventually left British airspace.

The Ministry of Defence stressed that there was no indication that the planes intended to enter British airspace.

The Tupolev Tu160 is a heavy bomber which was first deployed during the last years of the Soviet Union.

It has the heaviest take-off weight and the highest top speed of any combat aircraft.

At least 16 of the models are currently in service with the Russian air force.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/RAF-Intercepts-Russian-Bomber-Planes-Caught-Flying-In-British-Airspace-Near-Stornoway-Scotland/Article/201003415581985?f=rss

These Russians sure like coming to our airspace and testing the RAF don't they? :P

[Grig]

We sure love it, never had the best relations with Brtain- no sir!

[HotelUser]

20 times since 2009? I would of thought I would have heard more about this, then :P

[xxMATTGxx]

We sure love it, never had the best relations with Brtain- no sir!

Haha :D


20 times since 2009? I would of thought I would have heard more about this, then :P

Not everything is released to the public. Although I'm not surprised considering the amount of times it has been in the news regarding RAF jets intercepting other Russian jets. :P

[HotelUser]

Haha :D



Not everything is released to the public. Although I'm not surprised considering the amount of times it has been in the news regarding RAF jets intercepting other Russian jets. :P

Oh, well, I don't exactly get BBC news here (a) This is sort of scary stuff, though.

[Grig]

We've always been tampering with British foreign affairs, I'm suprised there haven't been more sanctions imposed on us. ;p

[HotelUser]

We've always been tampering with British foreign affairs, I'm suprised there haven't been more sanctions imposed on us. ;p

Grig are you causing international incidents again :O

[xxMATTGxx]

We've always been tampering with British foreign affairs, I'm suprised there haven't been more sanctions imposed on us. ;p

You keep testing our reaction times! Seeing how we operate!


'We have had to step up our intercepts, and that's exactly what they want because it is all about testing the RAF's reaction times. They get valuable information every time they do it. They will time us to the second and then feed everything into their computer for analysis, to see if we're getting better or worse.

[Grig]

Grig are you causing international incidents again :O

Yes it's what I do best, international scandals. International courts will have me for it ;].


You keep testing our reaction times! Seeing how we operate!

Yes, we have some of the best spies and even after the Soviet era, Russia (I was about to say big brother lol) is watching you! MattGarner watch your step. Although, it is probably more intense in the US, it's just the US have a more stepped up security, so it's harder + it's further ;p.

[GommeInc]

... Why were Russian aircraft entering our space, again? I don't see what the point is, why are they doing it?! It's surreal behaviour... Do the RAF or the British Government just not want to get in contact with Russia to ask why they're flying their aircraft into our territory? :P

Maybe they're spying on the Eurovision entries? :P

[Black_Apalachi]

They're probably trying to remind us that there is a country called Russia out there somewhere because nobody cares :L

[Stefy09]

or maybe soon they will drop a nuke on us and kill us all. They are gonna start ww3 and I'll put money on that!

[Grig]

Just because it happens it doesn't really mean there is a need to diss Russia. Even though I myself would disss Russia with the **** happening there socialy, politicaly and economically. Rather than focusing on their HUGE social problems, they waste money on useless things such as this. This is coming from a Russian lol.

[Wig44.]

Why on earth are we so soft. 20 times?! This was no ******* accident as we are being told. Simply tell them to stop flying in our airspace or we'll take out anything they send over us, and maybe America will back us up, as war makes the most profit for the corporations that run America.

[-:Undertaker:-]

We are terrified of them;- look at us. If we did that to the Russians (as we should be doing so back) they'd shoot us down whereas we just allow it. I would warn them; if you enter our airspace again in a threatening manner then we will take the action required to take out the threat you intend to pose to us. The same goes for the US and China, China frequently threatens US warships yet the US carries on trading as though nothing has happened. Imagine if Iran or North Korea did that.

The same occured with Iraq, we took them out because we knew we could. The real threats who can smack us back we ignore to our peril.

[Callum.]

I don't know anything about planes, but the picture looks well good. Top plane looks nifty.

[Wig44.]

We are terrified of them;- look at us. If we did that to the Russians (as we should be doing so back) they'd shoot us down whereas we just allow it. I would warn them; if you enter our airspace again in a threatening manner then we will take the action required to take out the threat you intend to pose to us. The same goes for the US and China, China frequently threatens US warships yet the US carries on trading as though nothing has happened. Imagine if Iran or North Korea did that.

The same occured with Iraq, we took them out because we knew we could. The real threats who can smack us back we ignore to our peril.

China is a profit-making powerhouse for the US, and profit comes before anything (including human life) in the US. Damaged stock or cancelling trading with the manufacturer of a huge majority of your goods does not yield profit. With the ever more dramatic boom and bust cycle in the US it will collapse in the future, make no mistake - I just hope we have the right allies when that happens. Step 1 for me is to pull out of the middle east. Not only are we fighting a pointless war that is being dragged out, we are drawing unwanted attention to ourselves. Step 2 is to leave the EU. Step 3 is to take china and russia seriously, with the former being the far greater threat. Step 4 is to defend our territory far more rigorously, we will warn people not to enter our (for example) airspace without permission. If they do we intercept and send them away. The second time it happens we shoot them down. Step 5 is to leave the US alone, no special relationship or any of this silly ********, as it drags itself down why let it drag us down with it? What help have we had from the US since WWII, and compare that to the help we have given them since WWII. Just look at what's happening with the falkland islands, has the US helped? Nope, that has no potential to make profit.

This won't happen though and I'm sick of it. Most of this would probably be achieved by UKIP but alas people label a party as something and then deny anything that says otherwise; aka burying their heads in the sand.

[BeanEgg]

Over 20 times. Wow!

I find it funny that they did it numerous times. Maybe they are testing the RAF!

[kuzkasate]

China is a profit-making powerhouse for the US, and profit comes before anything (including human life) in the US. Damaged stock or cancelling trading with the manufacturer of a huge majority of your goods does not yield profit. With the ever more dramatic boom and bust cycle in the US it will collapse in the future, make no mistake - I just hope we have the right allies when that happens. Step 1 for me is to pull out of the middle east. Not only are we fighting a pointless war that is being dragged out, we are drawing unwanted attention to ourselves. Step 2 is to leave the EU. Step 3 is to take china and russia seriously, with the former being the far greater threat. Step 4 is to defend our territory far more rigorously, we will warn people not to enter our (for example) airspace without permission. If they do we intercept and send them away. The second time it happens we shoot them down. Step 5 is to leave the US alone, no special relationship or any of this silly ********, as it drags itself down why let it drag us down with it? What help have we had from the US since WWII, and compare that to the help we have given them since WWII. Just look at what's happening with the falkland islands, has the US helped? Nope, that has no potential to make profit.

This won't happen though and I'm sick of it. Most of this would probably be achieved by UKIP but alas people label a party as something and then deny anything that says otherwise; aka burying their heads in the sand.

Totally agree with you there. Many people think by having this special relationships with the US makes the UK look sad and makes them look like bum lickers.

If Russia wanted to wipe out Britain, it would of done so already. Also Russian Air Force had distributed an official statement on March 12, which said that two Russian Tu-160s had carried out an 11-hour routine patrol mission over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans and were shadowed by four NATO fighters - two NATO F-16 Fighting Falcons of the Norwegian Air Force and two RAF Tornados.

"Our planes fly in strict accordance with the international rules government the use of airspace over neutral waters without violating the borders of foreign countries," Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Drik told CNN.

"The routine flights by the Tu-160 missile carriers took place in accordance with those conditions on March 10. They did not violate British airspace, and objective control materials confirm that."

[GommeInc]

Well clearly they were violating British Airspace if they were seen flying over the Isle of Lewis (thinking literally here)? Why do they need to do routine flyovers anyway :/

[Wig44.]

Totally agree with you there. Many people think by having this special relationships with the US makes the UK look sad and makes them look like bum lickers.

If Russia wanted to wipe out Britain, it would of done so already. Also Russian Air Force had distributed an official statement on March 12, which said that two Russian Tu-160s had carried out an 11-hour routine patrol mission over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans and were shadowed by four NATO fighters - two NATO F-16 Fighting Falcons of the Norwegian Air Force and two RAF Tornados.

"Our planes fly in strict accordance with the international rules government the use of airspace over neutral waters without violating the borders of foreign countries," Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Drik told CNN.

"The routine flights by the Tu-160 missile carriers took place in accordance with those conditions on March 10. They did not violate British airspace, and objective control materials confirm that."

I'm not so sure it would have. Russia knows that NATO would have jumped in, that Britain has nuclear warheads, that the situation would end up in MAD. Not in their best interests.

[xxMATTGxx]

Well clearly they were violating British Airspace if they were seen flying over the Isle of Lewis (thinking literally here)? Why do they need to do routine flyovers anyway :/

If what we are being told is correct and if I'm correct also, flying over the Isle of Lewis is classed as UK airspace. So if they were flying over that, surely they were in UK airspace? Either way, they may have followed the rules but there is times when they don't.