Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Russian bomber intercepted over the north Atlantic

This is a rather weird article. It states that a Russian bomber was intercepted but it doesn't mention why or what the bomber was doing there. No reference to a Russian spokesman. It just goes on to talk about the RAF jets. Wouldn't the author think that the reader would be more interested in the Russian bomber?

Two RAF jets have intercepted a Russian bomber over the north Atlantic.

Typhoon interceptors shadowed a Russian Tupolev-95 "Bear" reconnaissance aircraft last Friday.

It is the first time the £60m Eurofighter has been scrambled on a genuine alert since it took over defence of Britain's airspace in June.
Here's more:
The Russian Air Force said Wednesday that its recent resumption of long-range bomber missions is not a sign of aggression and that authorities are informing other countries of the flights in advance, the RIA-Novosti news agency said.

President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russian bombers had started flights over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The announcement, and earlier reports that British and Norwegian warplanes had scrambled to keep watch on Russian bombers that were approaching their airspace, raised concern that Russia was stepping up efforts to intimidate the West.

"There's no saber-rattling," Air Force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky was quoted as saying. "Our pilots are not invading someone else's space and there is nothing aggressive about these actions in relation to other countries."