RAF and German jets intercept Russian aircraft near Estonian airspace

RAF and German combatant jets person intercepted a Russian craft adjacent Estonian airspace successful the archetypal associated cognition of its kind.

The 2 Typhoons were scrambled connected Tuesday to intercept an Il-78 Midas refuelling level flying betwixt St Petersburg and Kaliningrad.

The level had failed to pass with aerial postulation power successful Estonia.

The British and German aerial forces are presently conducting planned associated Nato aerial policing successful the region.

The interception itself was routine, but it is the archetypal clip specified an cognition has been carried retired unneurotic by the 2 countries.

The incidental comes amid heightened tensions betwixt Nato and Russia implicit the Russian penetration of Ukraine, though determination is nary grounds of immoderate nexus with Tuesday's reported collision betwixt a Russian combatant pitchy and a US drone implicit the Black Sea.

After escorting the Midas, the 2 jets were redirected to intercept an An-148 airliner that was besides passing adjacent to Estonian airspace.

The jets are portion of the RAF's 140 Expeditionary Air Wing and the German 71 Tactical Air Wing Richthofen.

The RAF is preparing to instrumentality the pb connected Nato's long-established Baltic aerial policing ngo from the German aerial unit successful April.

It volition past pb the ngo for 4 months, with associated British and German operations acceptable to proceed until the extremity of April.

Four RAF Typhoon jets are presently deployed arsenic portion of the ngo and are based astatine the Ämari aerial basal successful Estonia.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said: "Nato continues to signifier the bedrock of our corporate security. This associated UK and German deployment successful the Baltics intelligibly demonstrates our corporate resoluteness to situation immoderate imaginable menace to Nato's borders, whilst demonstrating our combined strength."