The RAF faces ‘hot-headed’ Russian fighter jets once a WEEK after Jack ‘The Dripper’ Teixeira’s leak revealed a missile near miss
BRITISH spy planes face off ‘hot-headed’ Russian fighter jets once a week, despite leaked documents revealing a shocking near miss.
An RAF plane narrowly escaped being shot down last year after a malfunction prevented a missile from hitting it.
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Top-secret papers shared in a damaging leak revealed that a British RC-135 Rivet joint-jet was nearly shot down by Russians off the coast of Ukraine last year.
According to a classified US intelligence report, the Russian jet was flying over the Black Sea when its pilot believed he had clearance to fire.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace revealed some details of the incident at the time, blaming a “technical malfunction” in the Su-27 fighter for the missile launch.
However, the seriousness of the encounter became clear as new details trickled out of the leaks shared on Twitter and Telegram.
The documents show that US defense officials in their account of the incident say the Russian pilot misinterpreted what a radar operator on the ground said to him, the New York Times reported.
Thinking he had permission to fire, he headed for the spy plane – which seats more than 30 people – and launched a missile during the September 29 incident.
Fortunately, the missile malfunctioned and a potentially catastrophic incident was averted.
Despite this horrifying encounter, British jets are still regularly sent on reconnaissance missions, reports The Times.
However, the riveted joints are now accompanied by typhoons from the RAF base in Cyprus to deter Russian attacks.
John Foreman, Britain’s defense attaché in Russia until last year, said the near-fatal incident showed increasing Russian “hot-headedness” in the Black Sea.
He told the Times: “Orders appear to have been issued not to allow the US and UK too close to Russian airspace.”
Flight tracking data appears to show RAF jets have been sent out about every ten days for the past few months.
However, the Department of Defense has vigorously denied the account of the incident disclosed in the documents.
“A significant portion of the content of these reports is untrue, fabricated, or both,” a Defense Department official said.
“We strongly caution against anyone taking the veracity of these claims at face value and also advise them to take the time to question the source and purpose of such leaks.”
It comes as Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old US airman who dubbed himself Jack the Dripper, is on trial accused of sharing top-secret US documents after he was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday had been.
The leaked documents, shared on Discord, Twitter and Telegram, detailed US and NATO plans to help Ukraine prepare for a spring offensive against Russia.
They reportedly contained confidential information, including diagrams and details of arms shipments and battalion strengths.
In one of the worst intelligence breaches in US history, the leak has fueled the fire of speculation about Vladimir Putin’s health amid rumors he is battling cancer.