RAF and German jets race to intercept Russian planes near Estonia

British and German fighter jets on Tuesday attempted to intercept a Russian plane flying close to Estonia in a joint NATO mission, hours after a Kremlin warplane downed a US drone over the Black Sea.

The RAF and German Typhoon jets responded to a Russian air-to-air refueling plane after it failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control in the Baltic Sea as it approached NATO airspace.

The Russian Il-78 Midas aircraft flew between Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The NATO jets were later diverted to also intercept a Russian An-148 aircraft also flying close to Estonian airspace.

It was the first joint NATO air police battle conducted by the two countries, and comes amid a period of heightened tension in the region due to Vladimir Putin’s continued invasion of Ukraine and his threats against Kyiv’s western allies.

Yesterday, the US State Department called on Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, to protest after the Russian fighter jet collided with and destroyed an American Reaper drone in the early hours of the morning.

US officials said the MQ-9 surveillance drone was downed after an “unsafe and unprofessional interception” in international airspace by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets.

That’s what Pentagon officials said the Russian fighters harassed the drone by dumping fuel on it and flying in front of it, before a Su-27 clipped the $32 million drone’s propeller and forced it over the Black Sea with a total loss of the pilotless aircraft.

The UK is preparing to take over from Germany to lead the NATO mission in Estonia, one of three Baltic states (all NATO members) that also border Russia.

British pilots are currently conducting joint air police missions in Estonia with the German Air Force for the first time.

The Russian Midas flew from Russia’s second city, Saint Petersburg, which is close to the border of Finland and Estonia and on the Baltic Sea.

It was heading for Kaliningrad, a Russian semi-exclave also on the Baltic Sea, Russia’s westernmost point.

After escorting the Midas refueling aircraft, the two NATO jets diverted to intercept the An-148 aircraft, which also came close to Estonian airspace.

The defense ministry stressed the “routine” nature of the mission, but it comes amid tensions between the West and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary James Heappey said: “NATO continues to be the foundation of our collective security.

“This joint deployment of the UK and Germany to the Baltic states clearly demonstrates our shared determination to address any potential threat to NATO’s borders, while demonstrating our combined strength.”

A Typhoon pilot from the RAF’s IX(Bomber) Squadron, who has not been named by the Ministry of Defence, said: ‘We had to intercept an aircraft approaching Estonian airspace. We identified and tracked it as it came close to NATO airspace.

“Any aircraft that do not communicate with air traffic control or have a recognized flight plan will be intercepted by us to ensure we know who they are and to maintain flight safety for all airspace users.

‘As a fighter pilot this was a routine job, even though I was flying with a German colleague. It is clear that all our training and hard work paid off as we worked seamlessly together.”

The jets involved in the mission are part of the RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing and the German 71 Tactical Air Wing Richthofen.

Commander of the RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, Wing Commander Scott Maccoll, said it had been ‘great’ to see the British and German forces ‘operate as one team’.

Details of the mission came amid another reminder of the depth of tensions between Russia and the US, after a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a US surveillance drone over the Black Sea.

The US called it a “brutal violation of international law” and caused US forces to shoot down the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Moscow said the US drone maneuvered sharply and crashed into the water after encountering Russian fighter jets trying to intercept it near Crimea, but insisted the fighters did not fire their weapons or hit the drone.

The incident appeared to be the first time since the height of the Cold War that a US plane has been shot down after an encounter with a Russian fighter jet.

“This incident demonstrates a lack of competence and is not only unsafe and unprofessional,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. General Pat Ryder at a press briefing.

The incident took place in international airspace, but not far from the fighting raging on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the US drone flew into its airspace with its transponder turned off, and the Russian fighters were dispatched to investigate.

“Russian fighters did not use air weapons and did not interact with the US drone,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Due to sharp maneuvering, the U.S. drone went into an uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water,” the statement said.

Russian Ambassador Antonov has been summoned to discuss the incident, US spokesman Ned Price said, calling it a “brutal violation of international law.”

Antonov accused the US of an “act of provocation” and said the Russian fighter did not shoot down the Reaper drone.

Kirby, the White House spokesman, said the State Department will “speak directly to their Russian counterparts and express our concern about this unsafe and unprofessional interception.”

“If the message is that they want to deter or discourage us from flying, operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, that message will fail,” Kirby said.

“We don’t need to check in with the Russians in any way before flying into international airspace. There is no requirement to do that and neither do we,” he added.

Although the United States does not operate warships in the Black Sea, it routinely flies surveillance aircraft in and around the area.