RAF Typhoon jets scrambled twice in 48 hours to intercept Russian warplanes

Can Europe's air defence cope with Russian threat?

Two former senior US military commanders have said Europe's aerial shield is not prepared to meet the scale of the threat from Russia, while the head of the US Navy's air and missile defence task force has told RFE/RL that intercepting incoming fire is "always a cat-and-mouse chase".

There has been no reaction from Moscow to the two incidents that occurred in the middle of last week.

Here you can follow today's news as they happen.

Typhoon fighter jets were requested to intercept a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M “Coot-A” intelligence plane on Tuesday, the British Ministry of Defense said.Two days later, two Typhoon jets intercepted an unknown plane leaving the airspace of Kaliningrad, the source said. This mission demonstrates our ability to operate side by side with Sweden, NATO's newest member, and defend Alliance airspace wherever and whenever necessary, keeping us safe at hom…

UK fighter jets intercept Russian aircraft near NATO airspace twice in a week

The jets were scrambled as part of Operation Chessman to deter Russian aircraft in NATO airspace

In recent days, two Russian aircraft flying near NATO airspace have been intercepted by the British Ministry of Defence in a statement this Sunday.According to this text, on Tuesday, 15 April, two Royal British Air Force (RAF) Typhoon aircraft left the Malbork area base in Poland to intercept a Russian intelligence aircraft Ilyushin Il-20M 'Coot-A' flying over the Baltic Sea. Also, two days later, two other Typhoon took off from that base to int…