2023-09-14 21:51:57
Misunderstood radio message?
Russian fighter jet pilot apparently wanted to shoot down British reconnaissance plane
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A handout image provided by the British Royal Air Force shows a Russian Su-27 Flanker intercepted by the Royal Air Force near Estonia within the NATO area of interest.
© Quelle: British Ministry Of Defense/RAF/
A Russian fighter jet pilot is said to have deliberately fired on a British reconnaissance plane last September. This is reported by the BBC. Accordingly, a misunderstood radio message was said to be the reason for this.
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London. According to information from the BBC, a Russian fighter jet pilot is said to have attempted to shoot down a British reconnaissance aircraft because of a misunderstood radio message. It was previously known that two Russian SU-27 jets met a British RC-135 Rivet Joint in international airspace over the Black Sea in September 2022 and one of the machines fired a guided missile. Russia blamed this on technical failures, and the British government publicly confirmed this reasoning.
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But on Thursday the BBC reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that intercepted Russian radio messages presented the situation differently. Accordingly, the Russian ground station is said to have sent the ambiguous message to its pilots: “You have the target.”
“It was a miss, not a malfunction.”
One of the pilots took this as a clearance to fire and fired, but the projectile missed the target. “It was a miss, not a malfunction,” the BBC wrote. The other Russian pilot, who interpreted the radio message differently, turned away and insulted his wingman. The loose language shows a high level of non-existent professionalism, the BBC quoted its sources as saying.
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The British Ministry of Defense did not confirm the BBC report, but said in response: “Our aim has always been to ensure the security of our operations, avoid unnecessary escalations and keep the public and the international community informed.” It continued, The incident was a “clear reminder” of the possible consequences of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric invasion” of Ukraine.
RND/dpa
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