The United Kingdom government will be deploying Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to the skies over Eastern Europe, a response it said to Russia launching an incursion into Polish and NATO airspace with a series of unarmed attack drones.
British Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters will secure NATO airspace by flying “air defence missions” over Poland under the alliance’s newly-established Operation Eastern Sentry. “British fighter jets will fly air defence missions over Poland to counter aerial threats from Russia, including drones… This comes days after a reckless and dangerous incursion by Russian drones into Poland’s sovereign airspace – the most significant violation of NATO airspace by President Putin to date”, said the UK Ministry of Defence.
The aircraft won’t be stationed in Poland or Eastern Europe itself — and consequently won’t be available to scramble to react to immediate threats — but will instead conduct sustained air policing out of a RAF base in eastern England and transit Europe, refuelled by British Voyager tankers of the type recently sabotaged by pro-Palestine activists in the UK, on the way.
Although this is not exactly what Typhoons were designed for, given they are air superiority fighters built for an impressive rate of climb and top speed, they have long been used for extremely long-range tanker-supported missions in this way, such as the Operation Shader strikes against the Islamic State and Taliban.
Denmark, France, and Germany have already deployed fighter jets to Poland to perform similar tasks, and at the time of last week’s Russian drone incursion into Poland while it was Polish jets that scrambled, German air policing mission aircraft were already airborne.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer decried Russia’s “reckless behaviour” in a statement on the deployment, saying it was in response to this that the jets were being deployed. He said: “These aircraft are not just a show of strength, they are vital in deterring aggression, securing NATO airspace, and protecting our national security and that of our allies.
“We will continue to stand firm in our support for Ukraine and ramp up the pressure on Putin until there is a just and lasting peace.”
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