Britain said its Typhoon fighter jets intercepted two Russian maritime patrol bomber aircraft in international airspace north of Scotland on Monday, within NATO's northern air policing area.
Why is this news, from the article this looks to be a fairly “routine” event? Not that I support Russia, but I imagine NATO forces are also engaging in similar behaviour somewhere else?
Ya this is one of those, it’s routine and a big damn deal at the same time. Russia technically did nothing wrong. But at the same time they aren’t exactly being good neighbors
This isn’t just a Russian thing. Freedom of navigation exercises in international water/airspace are a common practice for basically anyone with the ability to project globally. They aren’t even a bad thing since it’s literally just a demonstration that everyone involved actually abides by international law when out in the open since it is just an honor system anyway. The only issue is when intercepts aren’t done safely with agreed upon procedures. Russia doesn’t have the best track record but the problems are almost always when they are intercepting others, not being intercepted.
Why is this news, from the article this looks to be a fairly “routine” event? Not that I support Russia, but I imagine NATO forces are also engaging in similar behaviour somewhere else?
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Ya this is one of those, it’s routine and a big damn deal at the same time. Russia technically did nothing wrong. But at the same time they aren’t exactly being good neighbors
The UK isn’t exactly a Russian neighbor.
Yes I believe there are some Scandinavian countries in quite a lot of water between the two.
Although I haven’t actually checked lately perhaps they moved things around.
Glancing at Google Maps, a great circle route from Murmansk probably lets you skirt most national airspace.
This isn’t just a Russian thing. Freedom of navigation exercises in international water/airspace are a common practice for basically anyone with the ability to project globally. They aren’t even a bad thing since it’s literally just a demonstration that everyone involved actually abides by international law when out in the open since it is just an honor system anyway. The only issue is when intercepts aren’t done safely with agreed upon procedures. Russia doesn’t have the best track record but the problems are almost always when they are intercepting others, not being intercepted.
This entire story is a huge nothingburger.