RAF deployed jets in response to Russian military aircrafts EIGHT TIMES last year
THE RAF deployed jets in response to Russian military aircrafts EIGHT TIMES last year, according to the latest Ministry of Defence figures.
The year 2013 showed near enough identical numbers, with RAF jets also being scrambled eight times that year to intercept Russian military aircrafts.
The highest figure came from 2007, when a staggering 19 jets were deployed - a stark contrast of the one that was scrambled the year before.
The latest records also revealed that the RAF launched Quick Reaction Alerts - used to intercept unidentified aircrafts - a further 13 times in 2014 in response to civilian planes which were registered in a range of countries, including the UK.
The data was provided by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) following a Freedom of Information request.
A MoD spokesman said: "QRA launches in 2014, or any other year, were to determine the identification of any aircraft approaching, or in, NATO monitored or national airspace without prior approval or not having identified themselves and which could not be identified by any other remains.
"I can therefore confirm that all launches within the period requested were either for Russian military aviation which approached the NATO Air Policing Area for which the United Kingdom has responsibility of civil aircraft within UK civil airspace that were causing concern to Air Traffic Controller."
The official continued: "Not all launches resulted in an interception, as some incidents were resolved before interception occurred.
Not all launches resulted in an interception, as some incidents were resolved before interception occurred
"All Russian military aircraft remained din international airspace and did not enter UK sovereign airspace."
Earlier this month, RAF Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled after two Russian bombers were detected flying over the English Channel.
The incident was described as “yet another in a series of deliberately provocative” measures by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sources within the MoD later revealed that one of the two long-range bombers was carrying at least one air-dropped “seek and find" nuclear warhead-carrying missile.
The figures came as tensions between the British Government and the Kremlin continued to brew following the opening of a public inquiry into the death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr Litvinenko died in London in November 2006, aged 44, after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 while meeting two Russian men - one a former KGB officer.
Meanwhile, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine dominated the headlines last year as their ongoing dispute over control of the Crimean Peninsula turned violent.
