British Typhoon Scrambled To Intercept Russian Bombers In Black Sea

The Royal Air Force scrambled a Typhoon fighter jet to intercept two Russian bombers in the Black Sea on Tuesday morning.

A British Typhoon operating from the Romanian Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta on the Black Sea coast responded to Russian Federation Air Force Tu-22 Backfire strategic bombers heading south near NATO air space, the air force issued a statement Tuesday.

The Russian military jets were flying over the western Black Sea and were monitored by the Typhoon in accordance with the NATO Enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission the RAF are conducting in Romania.

The jets did not come close enough to see each other and the Russian aircraft departed southwards.

Wing Commander Lewis Cunningham, Officer Commanding 3(F) Squadron said: “It worked as we would have expected it to. We took down the details, ran to the aircraft and I took off within the prescribed timeline”.

The RAF mission in Romania is part of NATO’s Assurance Measures introduced in 2014.