Russian bombers flying near UK may hit aircraft
The former British Chief of the Defence Staff says Russia is testing UK defences by flying bombers around its airspace.
Graham Eric "Jock" Stirrup has told Sky News that "they are testing our defences and they are engaging in a game of chicken. That's very dangerous. We are seeing the possibility of mid-air collision between Russian aircraft and civilian aircraft increasing."
His comments referred to the recent purported rise in the number of Russian bombers flights around the UK.
Over the past four years, British fighter jets have been scrambled more than 40 times to deter Russian military planes from encroaching on Britain's airspace, a Telegraph report says.
The former head of the UK armed forces also said Russia is becoming more "aggressive".
"These aircrafts are not going on these very long flights just as joyrides. They are mission rehearsals,” he added.
Stirrup said Russian President Vladimir Putin regards the West as increasingly "weak" and urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to commit to retaining Britain's defence spending at 2 percent of GDP.
Now Dmitry Linnik, the former chief of Voice of Russia’s London Bureau has described the whole episode as the UK’s scaremongering tactics.
“They certainly are over-reacting. They are certainly making a lot of PR capital over this,” he told Press TV’s UK Desk.
Linnik noted, “The top British brass are saying that Putin perceives NATO as weak. I don’t think that is Moscow’s thinking. What they are showing is that Russia is no longer weak. And Russia has no illusions about the nature of its relationship with NATO. Not any longer.”
“The whole relationship between Russia and the West ... is increasingly difficult. Of course the latest spat was over Ukraine, but it did not start then,” he went on to say.
The latest report comes after RAF planes were recently scrambled when two Russian bear bombers were purportedly spotted off the coast of Cornwall.
HRK/GHN
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