Russian jet made dangerous close pass of British plane, says RAF

A Russian fighter jet has come within 100ft of an RAF spy plane in a “dangerous” move, sources told The Times.

An RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft was flying in international airspace over the Norwegian and Barents Seas when a Russian MiG-31 jet carried out the “unsafe close pass” on Monday, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Moscow had earlier claimed that the Rivet Joint had violated its airspace in a “deliberate provocation”.

Russia said it had scrambled a MiG-31 to intercept the plane, which it claimed had crossed into its airspace near the remote Arctic headland of Svyatoy Nos.

The Mikoyan MiG-31, code named Foxhound, is a long-range supersonic interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, RAF aircraft have stepped up their patrols and intelligence-gathering missions in skies near Russia.

A defence source said that the MiG-31 flew across the nose of the Rivet Joint, an electronic surveillance aircraft, from only 100ft away, adding: “This is not the first time Russia has done something like this and I imagine it will not be the last.” They said that the aircraft at no point flew into Russian airspace.

However, Russia’s defence ministry painted a different picture of events, accusing the RAF of an “intrusion”.

 “We regard this action as a deliberate provocation,” it said in a statement on Monday, adding that the Russian air force was instructed to “prevent the violation of the Russian border.”

“All possible consequences of this deliberate provocation will lie entirely with the British side,” the ministry added in a statement.

Russian MP Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian lower house of parliament and leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said: “It looks like those who issue such absurd and provocative orders have forgotten how a British destroyer intruded into Russia’s territorial waters to be stopped by our border guards. I am convinced that a response to any intrusions will be adequately harsh.”

An MoD spokesman replied: “A Russian MiG-31 jet conducted an unsafe close pass of an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft as it carried out a routine operation in international airspace over the Norwegian and Barents seas on Monday, August 15.

“The UK aircraft was in communication with Russian civilian air traffic control and its crew operated in a safe and professional manner.” Russia’s Defence Ministry also said on Tuesday that Britain had requested permission for its RC-135 spy plane to fly over Russia, a move it also termed “a deliberate provocation”.

The ministry said that Russia’s air force had been tasked with preventing any violations of Russian airspace. A second defence source said that was not the case.

The latest incident is another in a long list of acts of Russian military aggression towards UK forces. Last week, British air patrols were forced to monitor the movements of a Russian nuclear submarine after it was spotted off the coast of Norway.

Last month, the Royal Navy tracked the movements of two Russian submarines in the North Sea.