I often wonder the reason for these intercepts.
So the Russians are trying to gauge our response times? Why don’t we just track them and ignore them.
There is also the flight safety risk and especially involving Russian aircraft near to the UK.
Wing Commander Mark Gorringe, Officer Commanding 111 Sqn, RAF Leuchars, said:
‘This is not an unusual incident and people may be surprised to know that our crews have successfully scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft on more than 10 occasions since the start of 2009.’
Some Russian missions fly far out into the Atlantic and whilst others journey south towards the coastline of north west Europe, turning short of penetrating sovereign airspace. These incidents concern NATO airmen as the Russian military flights are often not coordinated with civil Air Traffic Control (ATC) and therefore, can pose a real threat to flight safety in what are some of the busiest air-routes in the world. Although NATINADS is not responsible for flight safety across Europe, it contributes by assisting civil ATC by identifying and tracking such incidents.
The UK Flight Information Region, outside of 12 nautical miles from the UK coastline, remains international airspace but to transit the area aircraft are required to file flight plans, communicate with Air Traffic Control and utilise secondary surveillance radar (SSR), a means for providing information on the air traffic control agency and height. Russian military aircraft do not adhere to these accepted Air Traffic Control requirements. This is against International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations for which Russia is a signatory state and poses a potential flight safety risk. We are taking this issue forward with Department for Transport, who through the Civil Aviation Authority and the National Air Traffic Services contract provide Air Traffic Control services.
The UK Flight Information Region (see map below) contains some of the busiest airspace in Europe including the transatlantic air route structure. Within the UK Flight Information Region, Air Traffic Control operations rely largely on SSR to maintain safe distances between aircraft operating in close proximity. Aircraft not transponding SSR can therefore be invisible to Air Traffic Control operators. Risks to flight safety are mitigated by close liaison between UK Air Defence and Air Traffic Control units. Air Defence units use a combination of primary radar and SSR and are able to detect such aircraft within Air Defence radar coverage. The launch of UK Quick Reaction Alert aircraft to intercept unidentified aircraft also mitigates the flight safety risk.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmdfence/276/276we22.htm
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