London, by Thanasis Gavou

British spy plane of the Royal Air Force RAF on a mission over the Black Sea on September 29, 2022 has been found in the crosshairs of a Russian pilot who launched two missiles with the aim of demolishing it.

The BBC revelation based on three senior Western defense sources and overturns the official version of the incident.

The Russians had attributed the incident to “technical failure”, an explanation that had been publicly accepted by the British Ministry of Defence.

The new testimonies reveal that the pilot of one of two Russian Sukhoi-27 fighter jets that had rushed into the flight area of ​​the multi-crew British RC-136 Rivet Joint misinterpreted a “vague” and “unprofessional” command from command center and thought he had permission to shoot down the enemy aircraft.

The second Russian pilot understood the order and cursed his colleague over the comm when he fired the first air-to-air missile. The missile simply missed and its launch was not due to a malfunction, as announced. Nevertheless, the first pilot activated a second missile.

The crew of the British aircraft were able to listen to the intercom of the Russian pilots thanks to the spying machines of the Rivet Joint.

However, the Ministry of Defense in London does not intend to release the recorded communication of the Russian pilots. Commenting on the BBC’s disclosure, the ministry noted that the intention is always to protect the security of businesses, avoid unnecessary tensions and inform the domestic and international community.”

After this incident, British spy planes operating over the Black Sea are accompanied by Typhoon fighters, which are armed with air-to-air missiles.