The RAF scrambled two fighter jets on Tuesday after sightings of an unidentified aircraft approaching British airspace.
The jets, which were launched from RAF Lossiemouth in north Scotland, were supported by a Voyager refuelling jet from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
An RAF spokesperson told ITV News: “RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft were launched on April 14 from RAF Lossiemouth after unidentified aircraft were tracked flying towards UK airspace.
“The unidentified aircraft remained outside of our area of interest, and no intercepts took place.”
The Telegraph reported that the unidentified aircraft was a suspected Russian long-range bomber.
It comes as officials have raised concerns about Russian naval movements in the last year.
In 2020, two Russian Bear-F Tu-142 long-range aircraft were intercepted by the RAF as they flew towards Britain.
Last week, Defence Secretary John Healey announced the UK military had observed a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines in the North Atlantic for a month before they retreated.
He said this came at a period of “increased Russian activity”, with Vladimir Putin hoping to capitalise while the world was distracted by war in Iran and Ukraine.
This operation involved a Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from Russia’s Ministry of Defence deep-sea research programme known as Gugi (Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research), he said.
Healey described Putin as “the primary threat to UK security”.
Addressing him directly, he said: “We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”
The defence secretary is set to speak in Berlin on Wednesday afternoon.
While there, he will to co-chair a meeting of the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, and the Ukrainian and German defence ministers.
His appearance in Berlin comes as the UK announces a shipment of 120,000 drones to aid Ukraine’s war effort – the largest delivery of its kind, according to the MoD.
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