Non Squawking Russian Bomber Fly Around UK Airspace..

[Lonewolf_50]

Originally Posted by WillFlyForCheese

Because it's more than just a game of "tag."

Russian plane has near-miss with passenger aircraft over Sweden | World news | The Guardian

Do we wait until there's an actual incident?

How about what happened over Hainan Province - where a PRC J8II collided with an EP-3E Aries, forcing it to land in China?.

Point taken, but that's always been part of the game of tag: if you f$#%!! it up it can kill you. The Chinese, during that event, more or less announced that they now wished to play with the varsity.

The Russian downing of KAL 007?

Not apples to apples, that was a shoot down.

MH 17?

Not apples to apples, that was a shoot down, and it wasn't (as far as I can tell) the Russians.

What's good for the goose

I think that's how Putin would phrase it.
Our folks conduct Freedom of Navigation ops all over the world to make the point of the International "Freedom of the Seas" bit. That led to, among other things, some interesting sport in the med with Qadaffi on more than one occasion in which shots were fired.
I was involved in numerous "Freedom of Navigation" ops while in the Navy

Off the Coast of North Africa
In the Black Sea
Along the Coast of Yugoslavia and Albania
A few other places

It is part of the political game, a game which has been deadly serious for a very, very long time. Predates human flight.

The Russians are well within their rights to assert the "international" nature of the sea and the airspace above it. Folks in the US and UK and Sweden are certainly wise to play tag and keep tabs on who is out there.

Airline companies who fly over zones of conflict are likewise aware of the risks of so doing, and make choices accordingly.