Two Royal Air Force jets shadowed a Russian strategic bomber
that approached British airspace, Britain's Ministry of Defense
said late on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on Friday, the same day that Russian
President Vladimir Putin flexed his military's muscle by placing
strategic bombers back on long-range patrol for the first time
since the Soviet breakup.
Britain's defense ministry issued two photographs on its website
showing one of the two RAF Typhoon F2s flying near the Russian
Tu-95 strategic bomber, nicknamed the Bear, over the North Atlantic
Ocean.
The ministry provided few details about where and why this
happened, but the Russian warplane apparently was in international
airspace and approaching Britain's skies when it was shadowed.
Last month, two Russian bombers briefly entered British airspace
but turned back after British fighter jets intercepted them,
according to media reports.
Typhoon F2s are responsible for carrying out the quick-reaction
alert policies of British and NATO air defense in Britain, the
ministry said.
In Russia on Friday, Putin announced that 20 strategic bombers
had been sent far over the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans -
showing off Moscow's new posture.
"Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly
and on a strategic scale," Putin said at the time. "Our pilots have
been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new
life."
Putin said halting long-range bombers after the Soviet collapse
had hurt Russia's security because other nations - an oblique
reference to the United States - had continued such missions.
Soviet bombers routinely flew missions to areas where
nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United
States. They stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown. Booming
oil prices have allowed Russia to sharply increase its military
spending.
Eleven Russian military planes - including strategic bombers and
fighter jets - carried out maneuvers west of NATO member Norway on
Friday, a military official said.
Norway sent F-16 fighter jets to observe and photograph the
Russian planes, which rounded the northern tip of Norway and flew
south over the Norwegian Sea toward the Faeroe Islands before
turning back, said Brigadier General Ole Asak, chief of the
Norwegian Joint Air Operations Center.
A pair of Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers approached the Pacific
Island of Guam - home to a major US military base - this month for
the first time since the Cold War.
(China Daily August 23, 2007)
