There have been a number of stories over the past several years that have made it clear that the need to protect our airspace and the airspace of our allies is becoming increasingly necessary.
Just this past month there have again been several incidents including a suspected terrorist threat in United Kingdom airspace that was responded to by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of that nation.
There have also been some interesting threats over and near Canadian and UK airspace linked to the Russian army that are worth taking a closer look at.
On March 22, 2010 there was an audio interception over UK airspace that was believed to be coming from a plane flying over the country that included words such as “hostage” and “ransom”.
It also included an unusual request from an American Airline’s flight headed to Germany to unexpectedly descend. This initiated counter-terrorism measures that were enacted after September 11th and two fighter jets were sent up to respond in a matter of moments.
It turned out to be a false alarm, but this type of quick response has become common place in the military forces of all our allied nations since that tragic event almost a decade ago.
In the case of the increased incidence of the Russian Air Force fighter jets entering other nation’s airspace seems to be linked to the growing concerns over control of the Arctic. Though they have never entered UK or Canadian airspace they have frequently been spotted by the RAF flying over the north Atlantic.
About a year ago there was an incident very near Canadian airspace where two Russian jets were intercepted by both Canadian and American fighter jets just hours before President Obama made his first visit to our neighbors to the north.
While the exact reasons the Russian do this is unknown, it is suspected that they are testing the response of both our armed forces in defending our airspace in the Arctic. This comes at the same time when military budgets not only in our country, but in nations like the UK and Canada are being given a tough time.
We really need to stand up and speak out about the importance of maintaining our military budgets so we can continue to protect our airspace and the airspace of our allies!
Thoughts?
Joe Burlas says
The Russians have historically disregarded our sovern airspace in an attempt to “recon-by-fire”. This term comes from opening fire on a suspected enemy position or area in an attempt to draw return fire by which you would base your intelligence off of. I am very happy to see that we are always ready to meet such a threat.
Jon Wilson says
What exactly is the importance of controlling the arctic?