RAF intercepts Russian aircraft
RAF Tornado jets have intercepted eight Russian military aircraft approaching British airspace.
The interception was the latest in a series of incidents in which British fighters have been used to warn off long-range Russian reconnaissance aircraft.
The four Tornado F3 fighters were launched from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire and RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire in the early hours of Thursday morning, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.
They intercepted and turned back eight Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" aircraft, which were "approaching but not in British airspace", he said.
Last month, two of the RAF's Typhoon jets shadowed a Russian aircraft above the North Atlantic Ocean.
It was one of the first tasks performed by the recently-commissioned jets and it made the Bear-H aircraft turn back before it entered UK airspace.
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