Sunday, November 16, 2014

NATO: Russian Military Aircraft Are Risking The Safety Of European Airliners



Russian Warplanes Risking Safety Of European Airliners, Says Nato Chief -- The Telegraph

Jens Stoltenberg, the new secretary general of Nato, tells the Telegraph that more Russian military jets are flying over Europe without contacting air traffic control, raising the risk of mid-air collisions

Russia is placing civilian flights at risk by dispatching jet fighters and bombers into European airspace without following safety procedures, according to Nato’s secretary general.

Jens Stoltenberg told the Telegraph that Nato fighters had intercepted Russian military aircraft over 100 times so far this year, compared with 30 such incidents in 2013.

Russia’s long-range bombers and spy planes usually stay in international airspace, but they deliberately ignore safeguards designed to reduce the risk of collision with civilian flights. In particular, they switch off the “transponders” that allow aircraft to detect one another.

Read more ....

Update #1: Russian Military Activity in Europe’s Airspace Is ‘Dangerous,’ Says U.K. -- Wall Street Journal
Update #2: Civilian Flights at Risk From Putin's 'Invisible' Fighters -- Newsweek

My Comment: Russian pilots shutting off their transponders is a definite no-no .... and dangerous. But such is the present state of affairs between the West and Russia.

1 comment:

Jay Farquharson said...

Russian's arn't the first to shut off their transponders.

A standard USAF/Navy tactic, is to shadow under a passenger aircraft, until the aircraft is well within another nations airspace, then pull out and egress.

All of the Elint as the nations defense systems come on line, are then scooped up.