British defense officials announced Wednesday that Russian military aircraft conducted a dangerous intercept of a Royal Air Force surveillance plane over the Black Sea last month, describing the encounter as a risky incident that could heighten tensions between NATO and Russia.
According to defense ministry officials, the British Rivet Joint aircraft was conducting standard surveillance operations in international airspace over the Black Sea and was not carrying weapons. The plane faced multiple intercepts from a Russian Su-35 fighter, which approached close enough to activate emergency warning systems aboard the British aircraft, officials reported. Additionally, a Russian Su-27 made six separate passes, coming as close as six meters to the front of the Rivet Joint plane.
Defense officials characterized this as the most serious Russian aggressive action toward a British surveillance aircraft since 2022, when a Russian plane fired a missile over the Black Sea near a UK aircraft. Moscow later attributed that earlier incident to equipment failure.
British Royal Air Force surveillance missions are conducted regularly alongside allied forces to help protect NATO’s eastern borders, according to officials.
The announcement comes during a week that has seen multiple security concerns in the Baltic area, including a drone breach of Lithuanian airspace and a fighter aircraft downing what authorities believe was a Ukrainian drone over Estonia.
Earlier this year, Britain sent naval forces to counter potential attacks on underwater cables and pipelines by Russian submarines that operated in and near British waters for more than a month, officials said.
