DISCERN THIS MAY BE A 2015 ARTICLE == Royal Air Force Pilots Ordered To Shoot Down "Hostile" Russian Jets Over Syria & Iraq

Courtesy of Steve Q site,
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/611401/Russia-Vladimir-Putin-RAF-Tornado-Alexander-Yakovenko-ISIS-Iraq-Syria-Al-Assad
Cold War 2015: Russia 'FURIOUS' after RAF pilots cleared to shoot down Moscow warplanes

VLADIMIR Putin's military officials are reportedly furious with Britain after RAF pilots were authorised to shoot down Moscow warplanes.

By Jake Burman
PUBLISHED:  06:52, Tue, Oct 13, 2015    | UPDATED: 08:56, Tue, Oct 13, 2015
SEE LINK ABOVE




http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-13/royal-air-force-pilots-ordered-shoot-down-hostile-russian-jets-over-syria


Royal Air Force Pilots Ordered To Shoot Down "Hostile" Russian Jets Over Syria


by Tyler Durden
Oct 13, 2016 9:14 AM


As the US officially enters the Yemen military campaign, the UK appears ready and willing to precipiate a catalytic event from which there is no going back. With relations between Russia and the West at post-Cold War lows and deteriorating fast, Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots have been given the go-ahead to shoot down Russian military jets when flying missions over Syria and Iraq, if they are endangered by them. The development comes with warnings that the UK and Russia are now "one step closer" to being at war, according to the Sunday Times.
While the RAF's Tornado pilots have been instructed to avoid contact with Russian aircraft while engaged in missions for Operation Shader, the codename for the RAF's anti-Isis work in Iraq and Syria, their aircraft have been armed with air-to-air missiles and the pilots have been given the green light to defend themselves if they are threatened by Russian pilots.
.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/10/10/Tornado jet.jpg][/url]

"The first thing a British pilot will do is to try to avoid a situation where an air-to-air attack is likely to occur — you avoid an area if there is Russian activity," an unidentified source from the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) told the Sunday Times. "But if a pilot is fired on or believes he is about to be fired on, he can defend himself. We now have a situation where a single pilot, irrespective of nationality, can have a strategic impact on future events."
Where things get tricky is the qualifier "if he believes he is about to be fired on" - since this makes open engagement a function of threat evaluation in real time during stressed conditions, the likelihood of an escalation that could result in two warplanes shooting at each other, just jumped significantly.
The RAF Tornados aircraft will be armed with heat-seeking Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (Asraams, also called AIM-132 missiles), the IBT adds. These weapons, which cost £200,000 each, have a longer range than other air-to-air missiles, allowing RAF pilots to shoot down enemy aircraft without being targeted themselves.
Providing cover to the largely underreported, if substantial escalation, according to the Sunday Times report an appraisal carried out by UK defence officials said: "It took six days for Russia to strike any Isis targets at all. Their air strikes have included moderate opposition groups who have been fighting to defend their areas from Isis. Among the targets hit were three field hospitals." In the past 24 hours Russia's Defence Ministry said that it has continued its air strikes on IS positions in Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Raqqa. It reported that the attacks resulted in the "complete destruction" of "53 fortified areas and strong points with armament and military hardware", seven ammunition depots, four field camps of "terrorists", one command centre, and artillery and mortar batteries.
Russia has countered that US airstrikes have failed to make much of an impact on ISIS targets, and as reported last month, a "mistaken" strike by the US coalition forces killed over 60 Syrian soldiers in a move Russia accused of being a provocation to war.
The Sunday Times' report quoted a defence source as saying: "Up till now RAF Tornados have been equipped with 500lb satellite-guided bombs — there has been no or little air-to-air threat. But in the last week the situation has changed. We need to respond accordingly."
But another source of the original story summarized the severity of the situation best when he said that "we need to protect our pilots but at the same time we're taking a step closer to war. It will only take one plane to be shot down in an air-to-air battle and the whole landscape will change."

Cold War 2015: Russia 'FURIOUS' after RAF pilots cleared to shoot down Moscow warplanes

VLADIMIR Putin's military officials are reportedly furious with Britain after RAF pilots were authorised to shoot down Moscow warplanes.

By Jake Berman
PUBLISHED: 06:52, Tue, Oct 13, 2015 | UPDATED: 08:56, Tue, Oct 13, 2015                    


GETTY•GETTY
Putin's officials are outraged at the reports

Quote :

The very premise of a potential conflict of UK and Russian combat aircraft over Iraq is incomprehensible
Alexander Yakovenko

Outraged Russian officials asked UK ministers "to provide an official explanation" of reports that RAF Tornados operating over Iraq have been fitted with heat-seeking missiles designed for arial combat.

The Russian ambassador in London, Alexander Yakovenko, said he had "urgently requested explanations" of the reports from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

He said: "These reports are worrying, as they refer to senior cabinet members. We have urgently requested explanations from the Foreign and Commonwealth office. 

"The very premise of a potential conflict of UK and Russian combat aircraft over Iraq is incomprehensible."

GETTY
Mr Yakovenko requested 'explanations' from UK ministers over the reports
It emerged last night that RAF fighter pilots have been granted permission to shoot down Russian jets if they come under attack while completing missions over Iraq. 

Pilots were given the shocking order as UK ministers wanted Russia is making the situation in the Middle East "much more dangerous". 

RAF jets will be armed with advanced short range air-to-air missiles and British and Nato pilots have been told to fight for their lives if they are fired upon by Vladimir Putin’s air force.

Senior defence sources said it is likely British fighter jets will become embroiled in a deadly air battle with Russian aircraft sooner rather than later. 

GETTY
Tornado pilots have been given the green light to shoot down Russian warplanes
A source said: "We need to protect our pilots but at the same time we’re taking a step closer to war. It will only take one plane to be shot down in an air-to-air battle and the whole landscape will change."

RAF pilots have reportedly been told to avoid contact with Russian jets but have been warned to be prepared to fight back if fired upon.







A second source said: “No one knows what the Russians will do next. We don’t know how they will respond if they come into contact with a Western jet.

"When planes are flying at supersonic speeds the airspace gets crowded very quickly. There could be a collision or a Russian pilot might be mistakenly shot down."

GETTY
The missiles have been fitted onto RAF planes operating over Iraq
Tensions between Russia and Western forces have increased since Putin announced an assault on rebels who have been trying to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The US, Britain, France and others have accused Moscow of launching airstrikes against non-ISIS targets in Syria. 

Allied forces also condemned an incursion by Russian warplanes into Turkish airspace.

RAF given green light to shoot down hostile Russian jets in Syria:
I FEEL LIKE IM WASTING MY BREATH ---'BUT THIS IS A VEILED DECLARATION OF WAR'--WAIT UNTIL OBAMAS ANNOUNCEMENT ON SYRIA-COULD BE DANGEROUS WEEKEND!
SQ

Or a Monday, maybe time to skidaddle or not send kids to school...!!!