Saab 340 Bucharest to Birmingham intercepted
 

RAF jets escort plane to Birmingham airport - BBC News

Nothing much to see here; just being cautious?

its just standard procedure now

Any plausible explanation for no VHF, no standby VHF, no SSR?

This was my question too. I shudder to think of the cost of Typhoon scramble x 2 and a Voyager, though I suppose it's all good training for our Boys in Blue.

I believe there was a "practice" intercept an hour or so later. So, all in all, a good days flying for some.

https://twitter.com/MIL_Radar/status...7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Looks like they used ZZ336 for the Voyager, it was the plane the Prime Minister rode to Andrews AFB a few weeks ago to so warmly welcome our new President:

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/a...zz336/#ca9a485

The initial intercept was done by the belgian QRA out of Florennes (two F16's). The escort was handed over to the Coningsby QRA at the FIR boundery.
There is a short movie on www.mil.be

There's a clip of the Voyager+Typhoons over Birmingham Airport itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFenhnlhVxI