A new close encounter in the skies over Europe risked plunging us into the nightmare of global war. According to the BBC, a Russian pilot tried to shoot down a British army surveillance plane with two missiles. The soldier, according to the UK public network that took possession of the intercepted and recorded Russian communications, believed he had authorization to fire and, therefore, launched two missiles at the aircraft. Fortunately, neither hit the Royal Air Force (RAF) plane, which had a crew of 30 and was carrying out a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.
The incident would have occurred on September 29 a year ago and was heavily downplayed by Russia, which called it a “technical malfunction”, with the British Ministry of Defense publicly accepting this version.
Intercepted communications reveal that one of the Russian pilots thought he had received permission to hit the British aircraft, following an ambiguous command from a Russian ground station, while the second pilot thought so and protested when the first missile was fired. In response to the new revelations, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said: “Our intention has always been to protect the security of our operations, avoid unnecessary escalations and inform the public and the international community.” The accident involved an RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint and two Russian SU-27 fighters.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
