Russia Tried To Shoot Down British Plane
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/LONDON/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A Russian pilot tried to shoot down a British military spy plane after believing he had permission to fire, officials said Thursday.
Russia blamed a “technical malfunction” for causing the incident with the RAF surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea on September 29 last year.
The pilot fired two missiles, the first of which missed rather than malfunctioned as claimed at the time.
Russia had claimed the incident last September was caused by a “technical malfunction.”
The pilot fired after receiving an ambiguous command from a Russian ground station.
Unlike those of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, Russian pilots often receive less clear instructions, according to sources familiar with the situation.
‘HAVING TARGET’
The RAF plane had been flying a surveillance mission in international airspace when it encountered two Russian SU-27 fighter jets.
A Western defense source told Britain’s BBC the broadcaster that instructions the two pilots received were of “you have the target.”
One interpreted this as permission to shoot, but the other did not, swearing at his wingman when he fired the first.
The confrontation came as Russia and NATO entered into a new kind of Cold War over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had already made clear through his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov that Russia would “use nuclear weapons if it felt threatened.”
Amid these tensions, it took Britain nearly a year to reveal the Russian attack on an aircraft of NATO military alliance plane publicly.
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