Mysterious drones spotted twice by the British Air Force during exercises - report

This year, British military pilots reported two dangerous close encounters with unidentified drones during exercises over the North Sea. One of the objects was spotted at an altitude of more than 5,000 m, while the pilot of a tanker aircraft said it was so close that he instinctively ducked. The Telegraph reports, as cited by UNN.

Details

"This year, Royal Air Force fighter jets reported close encounters with two unidentified drones in British airspace. The near-collisions occurred within a few days of each other during exercises simulating aerial combat and mid-air refuelling over the North Sea. One of the mysterious objects was spotted at an altitude of 17,000 feet (more than 5,000 m), which is more than 40 times the permitted altitude for commercial drones," the publication says.

According to the information available, "numerous separate external investigations" are currently under way. As the publication writes, the incidents occurred amid growing concerns that hostile states are using drones to spy on the West.

"Several weeks after the drones were detected by the Royal Air Force in February, the US armed forces were placed on heightened alert after unidentified drones were spotted at Fort McNair, a military outpost in Washington, DC, where senior US government officials reside. Earlier this year, defence experts said that drones spotted over US airbases in Norfolk and Suffolk were linked to a Russian vessel based off the coast. The encounters with the Royal Air Force also occurred several days before the start of the US war with Iran," the publication writes.

According to the publication, the first incident occurred on 18 February near Cromer in Norfolk. A Royal Air Force Airbus Voyager tanker was refuelling a Typhoon fighter jet when an unidentified object flew over them. According to audio recordings reviewed by investigators, the Voyager commander reported what he had seen to military air traffic controllers and suggested that it might have been a small drone travelling from east to west.

"Er, something just flew over us – probably a drone at flight level one seven zero – do you have anything on the screen?" the pilot asked the Royal Air Force radar controller who was overseeing the refuelling.

"One seven zero" is aviation code for an altitude of 17,000 feet (more than 5,000 m), the altitude at which the aircraft was flying.

The controller said he could not see the drone on radar, prompting the pilot to reply: "Okay, understood, it was, er, quite small, er, I would say about the size of a drone, and travelling from east to west, it literally passed directly overhead. It made me instinctively duck. Yes, just, er, talking to [the Typhoon being refuelled], because they saw it as well, er, approximately between us, about 100–150 feet (approximately 30–45 m) above us, directly overhead."

In a subsequent report, the pilot said: "The proximity was such that I instinctively ducked, and it was reported to air traffic control (ATC) that it was a drone."

Recall

Over the course of a year, about 340 unidentified drones were detected near British military facilities. Experts are calling for stronger infrastructure protection.