British planes scramble to intercept suspected Russian jets

British jets were scrambled to investigate suspected Russian fighter aircraft flying near United Kingdom airspace on Wednesday.

Russian IL76 Candid aircraft being intercepted by an RAF Typhoon fighter jet. (Photo by RAF/MoD/PA Wire)

“Typhoon fighters … were scrambled today as a precautionary measure against a potential incursion into UK area of interest by one or more unidentified aircraft,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said.

“At no time was there a threat to UK airspace ..,” he added.

Britain routinely monitors Russian warplanes near UK airspace and Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters intercepted jets flying over the North Sea last month.

Britain’s Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster, spoke about “an ever more assertive Russia” in a speech in London in July.

He said the RAF has had to scramble jets more than 80 times over the last decade to intercept Russian military aircraft.