NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE DEFINITELY NO OVERFLIGHT BY RUSSIANS SAY MOD The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence are insisting Russian Aircraft which transited around the west of the British Isles recently before did not overfly southern Cornwall despite media claim to the contrary. The statement comes in response to a Celtic League Cornwall branch enquiry. Statement from Convenor Michael Chappell set out below: ?Following a military incident off the coast of Cornwall involving two aircraft operated by the Russian Federation and subsequent eye witness reports by members of the public suggesting that the UK Ministry of Defence were being less than transparent in this matter, the Cornwall Branch of the Celtic League wrote on 21st February, 2015 to the UK Secretary of State for Defence seeking clarification. A reply is awaited to a second letter from the Branch sent on 23rd February, 2015. The below response has been received by the Branch:? Mr Paul Webb HEADQUARTERS AIR COMMAND Secretariat 3a1 Spitfire Block Royal Air Force High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4UE Our Ref: 2015/094 27 February 2015 Dear Convener, Thank you for your letter of 21 February 2015 to the Secretary of State for Defence regarding reports of Russian military aircraft overflying Cornwall. I have been asked to respond on his behalf. On 18 February the RAF launched Typhoon aircraft to determine the identity of unknown aircraft that entered the NATO Air Policing Area and could not be identified by other means. The aircraft were identified as a Russian military aircraft and were escorted by RAF aircraft whilst they remained in the UK area of interest. The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace beyond the 12 mile limit at all times, as they were perfectly entitled to do. Contrary to media reports, at no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK sovereign airspace or overfly Cornwall. Russian military flights have never entered UK sovereign airspace without authorisation. The RAF?s air defence capability to detect and deter aircraft approaching UK sovereign airspace is just one layer of a multi layered approach that the UK Government takes to protect the UK and NATO-monitored airspace. I hope this explains the situation. Paul Webb Secretariat 3a1 Air Command Related items on Celtic News here: (voir le site) (voir le site) J B Moffatt (Mr) Director of Information 27/02/15 (Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur). ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues Internet site at: (voir le site) (voir le site)
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