The frequency of Russian probes towards British airspace is further cited by Britain's defence lobby as an even scarier indication of that threat. Regular reports of near incursions by those Tu-95 bombers, complete with accompanying videos, were offered as additional proof of Russia’s steady rise to global power (see "
Russia and the west: risks of hype", 6 October 2016).Russia may present many dangers, it may have plenty of nuclear weapons, and may have a leader determined to take risks to make Russia great again – but such reports of its frequent air incursions are anything but true. A recent freedom-of-information request to the UK defence ministry, reported by
Jane’s Defence Weekly, shows a rather different state of affairs. In each of the years 2013, 2014 and 2015, the RAF
scrambled fighters on seventeen, twenty, and twelve days respectively: but many were not in response to Russian sorties, which stood at just eight for each of the years.
Moreover, in 2016 only five of the twelve days of "QRA" launches involved Russian aircraft, and in 2018 the incidence was only three out of six days (see Gareth Jennings, “
UK notes marked decrease in number of days QRA intercepts flown against Russian aircraft",
Jane's Defence Weekly, 12 February 2018).
Bookmarks