RAF aircraft: RAF Typhoon jets intercept Russian aircraft near UK - days after Royal Navy tracked Kremlin submarines in English Channel

RAF jets quickly scrambled to intercept a Russian aircraft 'operating near the UK', the government confirmed. Two Typhoons were scrambled from the RAF air base at Lossiemouth on Wednesday (11 September) supported by a Voyager from RAF Brize Norton.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that the the aircraft had been deployed to intercept two Russian Bear-F aircraft found flying near the UK. The RAF jets were launched under NATO command, and the aircraft continued to be monitored as it passed through international airspace, The Mirror reports.

Typhoon fighters escorted the aircraft out of the UK’s Flight Information Region and "at no time did the Russian aircraft enter UK sovereign airspace", said the MoD. Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said: "This government is committed to making the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

“Efforts by the Royal Navy and RAF over the last two weeks demonstrate their selfless commitment to protecting our national security. I’d like to thank those members of our armed forces who took part in this operation, their professionalism and skill was on full display while working seamlessly with our NATO allies to uphold international standards."

It comes after the Royal Navy tracked two Russian submarines which sailed through the English Channel and North Sea. In a six-day operation led in conjunction with NATO allies, the Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Iron Duke shadowed the Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk and its supporting tug Evgeny Churov before it left through the Dover Strait and into the Atlantic. The carefully-choreographed operation to follow the Russian submarines began at the start of September.