Posted on 08/28/2016 10:19:26 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
When the siren sounded, the RAF pilots dashed for the cockpits of their Typhoons. Within minutes, two jet fighters were streaking across a summer sky, their wings laden with air-to-air missiles, searching for unidentified intruders they know as “bandits”.
Over the next half hour, Wing Commander Roger Elliott and his wingman would make three separate interceptions of Russian military aircraft. “You do have adrenalin pumping and when you launch, you don’t know what’s out there,” said Wg Cdr Elliott. “But it also makes you feel very satisfied because that is what we’re here to do.”
These pilots from II Squadron took off not from their home station at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland but from an old Soviet base located only 160 miles from Russia – or seven minutes flying time for a Typhoon at full speed.
Four RAF Typhoons have been deployed at Amari air base in Estonia, charged with protecting the airspace of the Nato country and its Baltic neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania.
These jets are part of Nato’s “Baltic Air Policing Mission”, which guards the skies over the alliance’s three most exposed members.
Their task assumed an extra urgency after Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014, raising fears that President Vladimir Putin might attempt a similar adventure against the Baltic states.
Amid mounting tension, Russian fighters and bombers routinely probe the airspace around Nato's Baltic allies, testing the skill and reaction times of their opponents.
RAF pilots are accustomed to being on “Quick Reaction Alert” (QRA) in Britain, safeguarding the skies from unidentified intruders. But QRA in Estonia – right next to Russia – presents a far greater challenge.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
But then we have utube videos of NAto and Russian airplanes coordinating exercises of interception of terrorist aircrafts...
How ridiculously provocative. I'm guessing this is an October Surprise card, in the Clinton deck?
What is provocative about NATO guarding NATO airspace? The planes have been there since 2004. On the other hand Russia committing 40 airspace violations since April or mock attacking USS Donald Cook is what I’d call being provocative.
‘NATO’, LOL. That relic was finished the day the Berlin Wall came down. Do you think that with the smoking rubble and stinking corpses of Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria drifting on the breeze that western air forces should be engaging ‘bandits’, over the Baltic states? Say hello to the gang around the Raytheon water cooler for me. And I do mean, ‘gang.’
So why is Russia doing these needlessly provocative airspace violations and mock attacks on US ships? Is Putin also on the Raytheon payroll?
It's own territory and people and Western civilization? Not so much.
Firstly, apologies for my needlessly confrontative response earlier.
The question is not whether Russia is being provocative. Quite possibly, they are. The question is whether Britain - an island, maybe five countries away – should be providing defense for the Baltic states? And maybe whether the USA, a country two oceans away, should be playing big brother to Latvia?
Especially as regards air power, where youthful testosterone and split second decision making can produce a disastrous cocktail. (Think KAL 007 and Iran Air 655.) Lastly, think of how many people advance themselves politically and financially, through conflict. Meaning the motives of those behind these policies require examination, the Clintons being a prime example. Cheers, B
KAL 007 was a civilian aircraft accidentally flying into Russia and shot down by them. That was before the civilians were allowed to use the GPS and an honest mistake. What we have now is Russians deliberately flying into NATO airspace with their military aircrafts.
There is an easy way to stop that from happening. Russia just needs to stop ordering their air force to do that.
Say hello to the gang around the Raytheon water cooler for me.
Nice Picture. The Su-27 seems rather lightly armed with two Vympel R-27/AA-10 Alamo medium range missile and two Vympel R-73/ AA-11 Archer short range IR missiles. The Typhoon has one visible ASRAAM.
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