The Mil Radar air force and navy monitoring service, which maps strategic flight routes of international aircraft, has posted on Twitter that two British Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets, as well as a Voyager ZZ338, left the Lossiemouth RAF base in Scotland to escort Russian bombers as they were flying in the skies above the North Sea “heading south”. In a parallel move, a French Air Force E3 201 ROXAN14 was mapped, as it was “orbiting North East France”.
1216z: Voyager ZZ338 2AR62 now heading south over the North Sea with two RAF Typhoons pic.twitter.com/LKOpieezib
— Mil Radar (@MIL_Radar) 29 марта 2019 г.
1214z: Russian bombers now over the North Sea heading south
— Mil Radar (@MIL_Radar) 29 марта 2019 г.
According to the monitoring service, as the Russian Air Force bombers turned north-west as they continued their flight over the North Sea, the RAF Voyager ZZ338 2AR62 set out tracking the Russian aircraft northwards, while RAF Typhoons were found shadowing them roughly 60 miles off the coast of Berwick.
The Russian planes, reportedly four Tu-95 bombers and four Il-78 refuelling aircraft, are reported to have left the Olenya airbase in Murmansk, a city in northern Russia. They turned north over the North Sea and are reported to be currently flying along the British coastline, flying in airspace over neutral waters.
Both the Russian and the UK Defence Ministries have yet to comment on the information. RAF planes have more than once been scrambled as Russian jets have flown in international airspace close to UK borders. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, its jets conduct flights in international airspace in strict adherence with existing international norms.
