[ad_1] A group of Russian military aircraft, including two nuclear bombers, triggered NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert system on Tuesday as it skirted No
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A group of Russian military aircraft, including two nuclear bombers, triggered NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert system on Tuesday as it skirted Norwegian airspace and flew near the north of Great Britain.
The Norwegian news organisation iFinnmark was first to report on the group, comprised of two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, two Il-78 Midas tankers and three MiG-31 fighter jets. The Blackjacks, which date back to the era of the Soviet Union, are designed to strike targets in remote areas with either conventional or nuclear weapons.
Norway swiftly scrambled two F-35 fighters from Evenes airport, in the country’s north, to intercept and escort the Russian aircraft.
“The armed forces continuously monitor Norwegian airspace and adjacent areas. If an unknown aircraft approaches our airspace, we move out with two F-35s from Evenes air station,” the Norwegian Defence Ministry explained in a statement on Facebook.
“The fighter planes find the unknown planes, as well as identify and document them. If necessary, the F-35 will also prevent aircraft from illegally entering Norwegian airspace. We call the emergency response mission QRA.
“We carry out the mission on behalf of NATO and it means that Norway has two combat aircraft ready to move out, or scramble, at any time. When the alarm goes off, the planes are in the air within 15 minutes.”
In a statement of its own, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the group of war planes had been sent on a 14-hour mission across the seas north of Scandinavia.
“Two Tu-160 strategic missile carriers of the Russian Aerospace Forces have performed a scheduled flight in the airspace above neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian seas, lasting over 14 hours,” the ministry said.
“All flights of Russian Aerospace Forces’ planes are carried out in strict compliance with international rules of airspace use.”
The Barents Sea stretches as far east as Russia. The Norwegian Sea lies to its west. Russia’s planes flew almost as far as the Shetland Islands, to the north of mainland Scotland.
The Russian Defence Ministry also posted footage from the mission on social media, which showed the group in the air and, at one stage, the bombers refuelling.
This is the second instance of Russian Blackjack bombers flying near Norwegian airspace in the past fortnight.
It followed an apocalyptic warning from Russia’s former prime minister and president, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of his country’s security council.
“The world is sick, and is on the edge of a Third World War. And although we tried to avoid war for 30 years, it was imposed on us,” Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, claimed before an audience in the Russian capital, Moscow.
He said the threat of nuclear war was “growing with every day for known reasons”.
“The Western world was unfair to our country to a large extent. Did they hear us? No they didn’t,” said Medvedev.
“Nuclear weapons may be used if Russia faces an act of aggression involving other types of weapons which threaten the very existence of the state.
“Our potential adversaries should not underestimate this. All these speculations about how the Russians will never do this are worthless.
“The Western analysts and commanders, both military and political leaders, should simply assess our rules and our intentions.”
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