MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - Norwegian and UK fighter jets were scrambled to follow Russian Tupolev Tu-142 anti-submarine planes which were performing an hours-long flight on Monday, Russia's Northern Fleet said.
"The flight continued about 11 hours. As the Northern Fleet's Tu-142 anti-submarine planes flew over the Norwegian Sea, a pair of F-16 fighter jets of Norway's Air Force was twice scrambled to follow them," the fleet's press service said on Monday evening.
The Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom also scrambled two Typhoon fighter jets to follow the Tu-142s over the North Sea, it said.
The Russian planes "performed a routine flight over the North Sea and the northeastern part of the Atlantic," the press service said.
Two Tu-142 planes performed the flight, the press service said.
"The flight of the planes from the Northern Fleet's air force proceeded in strict compliance with international rules for the use of airspace. Upon completion of the flight assignment, the pilots landed their aircraft at the Kipelovo airfield in the Vologda region," the Russian military said.
The Tu-142s flew over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the North Sea. Russian Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets accompanied them during the initial part of the flight over the Barents Sea.
The Tu-142 (Bear-F by NATO's classification) is a long-range anti-submarine plane, one of the largest such aircraft in the world. It has a flight range of 12,500 kilometers and an operational radius of 6,400 kilometers.