Ukraine War: Did Russia fire missiles at RAF spy plane?

It's been claimed that a Russian pilot deliberately tried to shoot down a RAF spy plane last year, believing he had been given permission to fire.

Russia blamed a "technical malfunction" for the incident over the Black Sea. But intercepted communications reportedly suggest the pilot fired after receiving an ambiguous command from a Russian ground controller.

Professor Michael Clarke has analysed reports detailing a "dangerous" incident involving two Russian jets and a RAF aircraft over the Black Sea.

#royalairforceuk #blacksea #skynews

[a]

How about we call it a "surveillance" plane?
A "spy" is a person who secretly collects and reports information on the activities, movements, and plans of an enemy or competitor.

This plane was not "secretly" doing anything.

The aircraft flies a filed flight plan, has a transponder, the crew responds to radio calls, identifies themselves, etc.

What they were doing was "monitoring the behavior, activities, or other changing information of people and equipment for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing, information, or protecting."

i.e., "surveillance"

[hmq]

"Charles, fetch the shotgun. We're being fucked"

[bnesyy]

this is how the war should always be reported. clear, concise, simplified with real-world civilian analogues to understand scale, no wild speculation, no grandstanding a political viewpoint, not hysterical while also respecting the gravity of the news.

[jensschabestiel]

My first question was, what does a RAF spy plane over the Black Sea?

[janandersen]

Love Professor Michael Clarke's way of saying things, very easy to understand, and he seems very knowledgeable - good thing it wasn't shot down.

[joshuadunford]

This reminds me of the time Russia shot at British fishing boats thinking they where Japanese PT boats

[admiralbenbow]

LOL ! " One missile failed to lock on to the target, the other missile `fell off` ".
Doesnt get any more Russian than that !!

[edwardbooth]

There's a good case for that second Russian pilot saving us from a serious escalation

[JC-sdmx]

The lack of professionalism and skill the Russian military continuously displays is plain shocking and frankly pathetic.

[vladsaveluc]

What was the British plane doing over a war area? Is UK an active participant in this war 🤔

[RealPlatoishere]

Have been tracking this particular rivet joint for a while now with serial code RRR7226, They usually take off from Chania escorted by two RAF typhoons for reconnaissance near crimea ...I also spotted a US navy Lockheed EP-3E Aries II aircraft assisting it in surveillance by monitoring near romanian coast

[mjc]

My father was a pilot for the RAF flying Shackletons MR3s out in the Mediterranean back in the late 60s a little after the time of the USS Liberty being sank by the Israelis anyway, I guess everyone was quite jumpy at the time and they got fired on by I believe it was the Soviet Cruiser Moskva, lucky for everyone the missile shot off into the distance quite someway from them!

[DavidWilliams-njcn]

If it were shot down I doubt it would have escalated, Russia would have said it was an error/malfunction and Nato would have accepted that as no one has the appetite for a direct conflict and prefer to fight this proxy war, which is more palatable and just talk tough with each other.

[jonbaxter]

Had no idea it was a massive plane, thought it was just a drone or something.

[Glideslopes]

These Orc Pilots are so dangerous. Training levels similar to a toddler during toilet training. An RC-135W loss would be a huge incident. I'm sure they have escorts now.

[jaydrone]

what amazed me is, it happened almost last year.

[freemenofengland]

Rarely in the entire History of Gt Britain have we had such stupid politicians.

[jaredspencer]

"What happened to the missile?"
"The front fell off."

[kuckoo]

Air-launched IR, semi-active, and active AA missile can't be launched at a target unless that target is specifically locked onto by the pilot, who must then authorize release of the weapon after locking. It is an explicit, deliberate action, not something that can be done "accidentally" or happen through a "malfunction".

[robertbrennan]

Very alarming indeed! Great thanks, Prof. Clark!