UK scrambles jets to intercept 4 Russian military planes

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Royal Air Force said Wednesday that it scrambled fighter jets in response to four Russian military aircraft approaching the United Kingdom.

The force said four Russian strategic bombers were “intercepted and escorted,” adding that they did not enter U.K. airspace at any point.

The Typhoon jets took off from British air force bases in Lossiemouth, northeast Scotland, and they were joined by a Voyager air-to-air refueling tanker launched from Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities did not provide further details on the operation.

The force routinely intercepts aircraft approaching what it describes as the “UK area of interest.” It has said previously that Russian military aircraft entering the the U.K.’s policed zone of international airspace can pose a hazard to other air users because they often do not talk to air traffic control.

In November 2021, jets were launched in response to Russian strategic bombers. Officials said at the time the fighters escorted the Russian aircraft out of the “area of interest” and that the bombers did not enter U.K. airspace.