Ben Wallace, UK Defense Minister, revealed yesterday (21) that a Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighter, from the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), “released” a missile while intercepting an RC-135W Rivet t spy plane from the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force (RAF).
The incident, revealed by Wallace in the British Parliament, took place on 29/09 during a reconnaissance mission in the Black Sea. These operations are normal, including interceptions by the Russians in response. Flights, however, have intensified with the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which will be eight months old next Monday.
BREAKING NEWS: A missile was released from a Russian aircraft near an unarmed RAF plane on a routine patrol over the Black Sea, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says.
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At the time, the Boeing RC-135W Rivet t registration ZZ664, a jet specialized in data collection through signal interception (SIGINT), was intercepted by a pair of Russian Su-27 fighters. The minister reports that at a certain point during the follow-up, one of the Russian jets 'released' a missile close to the RC-135. Wallace used the word "released", which makes it difficult to know if the missile was ejected/fell (jettison) from the fighter, or accidentally fired.
It is also unknown what type of missile was launched. The Su-27 is normally armed with R-73 missiles, short range and heat guided, and R-27, medium range and guided by active, semi-active or heat radar depending on the variant.
The interaction between the British and Russian planes lasted 90 minutes, with the RC-135 safely returning to base, despite the Ministry having defined the event as a “potentially dangerous engagement”.
The RAF Rivet t that was involved in the incident with a Su-27 firing a missile near the aircraft on September 29th was ZZ664 pic.twitter.com/LZ1oE7JIsR
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Wallace stated that he communicated the incident to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.“In my letter, I made it clear that the aircraft was unarmed, in international airspace and following a pre-notified flight path. I thought it prudent to suspend these patrols until a response has been received by the Russian State.”.
An investigation by Moscow pointed out that a technical failure in the fighter caused the launch of the weapon. Wallace also emphasized that the action did not appear to be a "deliberate escalation".
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The incident caused the RAF to impose a brief pause on reconnaissance flights over the Black Sea. The missions have returned, but now the RC-135s fly escorted by Typhoon FGR.4 fighters. Interestingly, the same plane would have violated Russian airspace on another occasion, In August.
The RC-135W is an aircraft dedicated to surveillance and electronic data collection missions, equipped with a series of antennas across the fuselage to capture multiple signals. The RAF operates its three RC-135Ws in 51 and 54 Squadron, both based at Waddington Air Force Base.
