An F-35B takes off from the tip of the “ski jump” ramp on the HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier. Two similar aircraft intercepted a Russian surveillance plane over the Arctic last week. (US Navy/Kyra Helwick)

UK Carrier-Based F-35s Intercepted Russian Bombers over the Norwegian Sea

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Two British F-35Bs intercepted a Russian Tu-142 bomber after it failed to identify itself over the Norwegian Sea, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

F-35B Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighters were launched from the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, to intercept a Russian Tu-142 Bear-F/J maritime patrol aircraft over the Norwegian Sea last week, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed on Monday.

The Bear-F aircraft—a derivative of Russia’s popular Tu-95 Bear turboprop strategic bomber—conducted multiple approaches near the UK’s Carrier Strike Group in the Arctic region, and also deployed more than a dozen sonobuoys near the conventionally powered aircraft carrier on Thursday, the MoD announced. It described the Russian actions in the Norwegian Sea as “unsafe and unprofessional.”

The Russian military regularly deploys Tu-95 and Tu-142 aircraft on patrols in the Arctic as a message to the West that Moscow views it as its backyard.

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© The National Interest