London. March 29. INTERFAX-British Typhoon fighters of the rapid reaction force on Monday urgently flew to "intercept" two Russian long-range anti-submarine patrol Tu-142 aircraft over the North Sea, the Royal Air Force said.
"Today, the Typhoons of the rapid reaction forces from the Lossiemouth air base were raised to intercept two Russian Tu-142 aircraft (according to the NATO codification - Bear-F) approaching the northern borders of the United Kingdom's zone of interest," the report says.
According to the Royal Air Force, fighter jets tracked Russian warplanes throughout their flight over the North Sea near the UK.
The Royal Air Force has published photos of Russian Navy aircraft taken from fighter planes.
According to British air observers, the duration of the fighter mission was provided by the Voyager tanker aircraft, which took off from the Brize Norton air base.
Earlier on Monday, the Belgian Air Force also reported that two Russian long-range anti-submarine aircraft Tu-142 flew over the neutral waters of the North Sea.
"Two Belgian F-16 fighter jets were sent to monitor their presence," the report said.
A NATO E-3C Sentry AWACS long-range radar detection and control aircraft also flew from Geilenkirchen air base in Germany. French warplanes were also flown into the air.
Meanwhile, the Russian Northern Fleet reported that Norwegian and British fighter jets were climbing to escort Russian Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft, which made a multi-hour flight on Monday, the Northern Fleet said.
"The flight duration was about 11 hours. During the flight of the Northern Fleet's Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft over the Norwegian Sea, a pair of F-16 fighters of the Norwegian Air Force twice flew into the air to escort them," the press service of the fleet reported.
The Northern Fleet reported that the Russian planes " performed a planned flight over the waters of the North Sea and in the North-Eastern Atlantic"
Earlier on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that two Russian Tu-160 bombers flew over the Barents and Norwegian Seas.
"Two long-range Tu-160 strategic missile carriers performed a planned flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas. The flight duration was more than 8 hours, " the Russian Defense Ministry said.
