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UK Typhoons shadow Russian
bomber
BBC
Tuesday Aug 21, 2007
Two new RAF Typhoon jets shadowed a Russian bomber heading for
Britain, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The jets were scrambled on Friday 17 August to identify the Russian
aircraft, which turned back before it reached UK skies.
The MoD said: "RAF Typhoons from Numbers 3(F) and XI Squadrons
launched to shadow a Russian Bear-H aircraft over the North Atlantic
Ocean."
The BBC's Gordon Corera said the incident was not a security
threat.
(Article continues below)
Active standby
He said a similar incident occurred in July, but that this represented
a new, more provocative Russian foreign policy.
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has recently resumed the
Soviet-era practice of sending bomber aircraft on long-range flights.
Britain's £67m Typhoons were only put on active standby
in July.
Typhoons, the RAF's newest fast jet aircraft - which are based
at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire - cover the UK Quick Reaction
Alert (QRA) commitment together with Tornado F3 aircraft based
at RAF Leeming and RAF Leuchars.
Over the next nine months, the Typhoons will progressively replace
Tornado F3s, the aircraft which have performed this duty for many
years.
The Typhoon was designed during the Cold War, when European leaders
looked to the Soviet Union as their main threat from the air.
The RAF has ordered 144 Typhoons, which can accelerate from standing
to take-off in under seven seconds.
They were developed by companies in the UK, Germany, Spain and
Italy.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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