Non Squawking Russian Bomber Fly Around UK Airspace..
 

Sounds hairy...Transponders turned off.

Russian ambassador summoned to explain bombers over English channel | World news | The Guardian

Next time (and there will be a next time) force it to land in the UK and strip it to it's stringers for intel.

What's the big deal?

We are back to playing tag like we used to during the Cold War. Day in and day out, we played "tag, you're it" with our Russian counterparts.

Why is such a big deal being made of this? :confused:

BBC refers to disruption to UK aviation.

BBC News - Russian military jets 'disrupted UK aviation'

Looks like they did a complete circuit of the UK and Ireland.

Elections coming..
 

David must appear to be defending the women and children of the UK!

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?

The Russian downing of KAL 007? MH 17?

What's good for the goose . . . .

It isn't just the Russians who do this. The US military is equally good at operating under "Due Regard" - outside 12nm territorial waters.

Not much new here other than the Russians have restarted doing something they did regularly a few years back.

And about once or twice a year for the last few. Nothing illegal under international law - but could easily develop into a flight safety hazard. In my experience they used to drop to levels where it was not an issue when relatively close, that said 243.0 and 121.5 were never more than a single switch selection away.


And the escorting NATO aircraft are squawking.......

Point taken, :ok: 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. Not apples to apples, that was a shoot down. Not apples to apples, that was a shoot down, and it wasn't (as far as I can tell) the Russians. I think that's how Putin would phrase it. :p
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 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.

Yeah - some examples not "apples to apples" - but KAL 007 falls within the pattern of aircraft cat and mouse - at least that's how Russia saw it.

MH 17 - yeah - agreed - but it does show how mistakes happen and things escalate.

Personally - I think Russia is trying to force an "incident" so Putin can make hay of it. We'll see.

The Scandinavian Airlines flight from Denmark to Sweden can hardly be said to be in a conflict zone - but I do get what you say.

Point(s) taken.

My crystal ball is a bit murky these days, and Vlad likes to willy wave. You may be dead right.

So long as people are aware, and remain alert to hazards, the risks can be reduced/mitigated.

How does one force it to land?


Mickjoebill

Except of course, UK airspace is not a zone of conflict.


Mickjoebill: I'm unsure. But flights have been forced to land before. I'm guessing locking onto it with your weapons and vectoring it to where you want it to go might serve a purpose.

Lonewolf Playing tag out over the North Sea is one thing. Flying through the airspace over the Channel (which is quite busy as regards, commercial traffic) is another.

How do you force it to land?
 

You do no such thing.

Equip the interceptors with a bottle of Wodka on each station.

The bomber will follow you automatically.

After such a long trip they must be low on alcohol level.

LOL.

Out of interest, could you clarify why the "North Sea" is fine, yet "the Channel" is not?

In some ways, the North Sea presents a bigger hazard :eek:

NoD

Russia indicated that increased NATO aircraft have been flying close to Russian borders. No comment from NATO.............. as I would expect.

As for shooting down Airlines somehow RoboCruisers shooting down of an Iran Air Airbus gets forgotten.

Indeed. Would never dream of flying in one of Her Majesty's secret aeroplanes across the Mediterranean, at night, no lights, cross the airways at intermediate levels, silent ... no sir, it would never happen. :suspect:

In the future, please pay attention to the conversation before posting. That point about dangerous airspace was related to the non-apples-to-apples line I responded to in re Malaysia airlines being shot down / Ukraine.

As to forcing the Russian plane to land, had it violated the airspace or not? Flying "close to UK airspace" is not a violation, it is at most a provocation. (And it is licit). Having the transponders off ... I'll agree that this is bad form.

Your chair borne ranger "force them to land" ploy will not fit with policy, nor with the general use of international airspace.

When I lived in Virginia while serving in the USN, in the 80's, the Air National Guard, and sometimes our active Air Force and Navy jets, would scramble on the weekends for non squawkers over international waters. Heh, one of our squadron helicopters was once scrambled upon by ANG F-16's off of the California Coast a decade later, while doing regular exercises with the ship, thanks to a FUBAR regarding Mode 4, which day, which way, and the ANG deciding to take a look.

No.
Big.
Deal.

Looks like the Typhoons did something similar, check out a non squawker.

Good job gents! :ok:

Why is this headline news, during the 70's and 80's it was the norm during the cold war. The big difference now is, the russians are still using the now museum piece the Bear while the western world has moved on slightly to the Typhoon.