British Jets Intercept 8 Russian 'Bears'

Kremlin's renewed long-range recon flights buzz Britain, Norway

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 6, 2007 3:42 PM CDT

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British Jets Intercept 8 Russian 'Bears' — This is a photo released Tuesday Aug. 21 2007, by Britain's Ministry of Defence, of an RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoon from Number XI Squadron shadowing a Russian Bear- H aircraft over the North Atlantic Ocean on 17 August 2007. Two Royal Air Force jets shadowed a Russian strategic bomber that approached... (Associated Press)

British fighter jets intercepted eight Russian recon bombers today as they approached British airspace in the latest long-distance forays to display Vladimir Putin's renewed virility in air power. Authorities said the aircraft did not enter British airspace, the Guardian writes. Norwegian planes monitored the same eight bombers in international airspace north of Norway.

Russia resumed sending the Tupolev-95 "Bears" on long-range flights earlier this year, after a 15-year hiatus. Putin attributed the decision to resume the Cold War practice to threats posed by US plans for a missile defense system near the Russian border. In May, Russian planes spied on British warships off the Scottish coast; in July, British aircraft warned off Russian bombers three times, during the dispute over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. (More Russian military stories.)

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