Why scramble jets

Japan's military scrambled fighter aircraft to intercept Russian and Chinese planes, it said on Tuesday, including an observation jet at which South Korean forces fired warning shots after it entered airspace over an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo. The neighbouring country responded by sending two of its American-made F jets.

The Dutch air force scrambled two F fighter jets to escort a flight from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam after an onboard fight broke out with an aggressive American passenger, authorities said Saturday. After a Pakistani helicopter entered Indian airspace at Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch on Sunday, Army sources have confirmed that two Indian fighters, most likely MiGs, were launched from Srinagar airbase to intercept the aircraft.

Federal authorities on Saturday were seeking to learn what drove an airline worker to steal an empty airplane from Seattle's airport in a security scare that caused the scrambling of U. Britain scrambled two Royal Air Force Typhoon jets on Monday from Scotland to intercept Russian planes near the United Kingdom's airspace, a defence ministry spokesman said.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page. Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. Cold war-era planes were originally designed to carry nuclear bombs and missiles but now carry conventional payloads.

Air Force supersonic strategic B-1B bombers, accompanied by two KC refuelling planes, and escorted them over the waters of the Black Sea," the defence ministry said in a statement accompanied by video footage of the U. It said the Russian aircraft had carried out their flight in strict compliance with international airspace rules and that Russia's borders had not been breached.