Russian fighter jets flew within six metres of an RAF aircraft in the closest ever engagement between the countries’ air forces, it was confirmed today.
In a terrifying incident over the Black Sea, Vladimir Putin’s pilots ‘repeatedly and dangerously’ intercepted the British aircraft.
The RAF plane was a Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft which customarily carries a crew of 30 pilots, navigators and analysts.
A direct hit would have killed all those onboard. Remarkably, the Russians conducted six ‘danger close’ passes of the Rivet Joint.
The passes were so close that the RAF aircraft’s automatic pilot system was disabled, thereby triggering the plane’s emergency systems.
The date
To provide well-rounded coverage and a breadth of insight across various events, we rely on contributions from several staff writers, each bringing their own area of expertise to our publication.
