RAF & German jets scramble to threat

Joint mission stands up to Russian craft

- BY CHRIS HUGHES Defence and Security Editor

BRITISH and German pilots yesterday intercepted a Russian warplane, in the aftermath of the downing of a US spy drone.

Typhoon jets from both NATO countries scrambled to home in on a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace.

They were alerted when a Kremlin air-to-air refuelling aircraft failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control.

The German and British jets successfully saw off the Russian threat.

The confrontation came as Russia and the US were racing to find a spy drone that plunged into the Black Sea.

A Russian SU-27 jet was thought to have collided with the drone, damaging it, so its US handlers sent it down.

US Navy SEALs and the Russian navy the drone could be recovered but that the US had taken steps to protect the information in the drone.