RAF Typhoon. BBC/Getty/AFP
A Latvian cargo plane was almost shot down in England today after it lost communications with ground control. -BBC. Two RAF Typhoons intercepted the plane. The Typhoons were authorized to travel faster then the speed of sound and created a sonic boom that caused some disturbances on the ground. When the Typhoons contacted the cargo plane they informed it that they would shoot it down if it did not respond. The plane replied and the fighters escorted the Russian made Antonov An-26 to a nearby airport. An investigation found that the plane had lost communication as they changed jurisdictions, but no cause for the error was found. No charges were filed and no further investigation will be conducted.
My Comment:
Britain is on edge right now and for good reason. This incident is relatively minor but it goes to show how jumpy everyone in Europe is. Why? There are two reason. The first is that people are worried about a 9/11 style attack, and a plane falling off the communication grid is a good sign of one coming. I don't know how likely that is, but it is a possibility and with the massive amount of terror alerts, ascendant terrorist groups and lone wolf attacks, it is on everyone's mind.
The second reason is how hard Putin is pushing his military to provoke the west. He has been testing both NATO and the United States. He has been sending his bombers everywhere and has even had some extremely large fighter formations as well. I would have posted about them but the fact of the matter is that it isn't news anymore. We are back to the bad old days of the cold war with our defenses being constantly tested.
Still, it is good that this was just a false alarm. Seems to be a lot of those these days.
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