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A Russian pilot attempted to shoot down an RAF surveillance plane over the Black Sea in 2022 because he believed he had permission, but his missile failed.
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It has emerged that a Russian pilot attempted to shoot down an RAF surveillance plane over the Black Sea because he mistakenly thought he had permission.
The pilot of the SU-27 fighter jet fired two missiles at the RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft on September 29 last year, with the first missing the British aircraft rather than malfunctioning as Russia claimed at the time. .
At the time, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged the incident, telling Parliament that two Russian planes “recklessly” came within 15 feet of the RAF plane and one “launched a missile in close proximity.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attributed the incident to a “technical malfunction” and Wallace, after speaking with other Russian defense officials, accepted the explanation and put an end to the incident.
But now, three senior Western defense sources with knowledge of the incident have told the bbc that Russian communications that were intercepted by the RAF surveillance plane show that one of the Russian pilots thought he had been given permission to target the British plane.
This was after he received an ambiguous order from a Russian ground station, sources said.
The second Russian pilot thought otherwise and cursed his partner as he fired his first missile that came dangerously close to the RAF reconnaissance plane.
This is breaking news, there will be more to follow…
The pilot of the SU-27 fighter jet (file image) fired two missiles at the British military plane, with the first missing the target rather than malfunctioning, as Russia claimed at the time.