Begging for a missile up the tailpipe

From The BBC:

The UK's Royal Air Force has launched fighter jets to intercept eight Russian military planes flying in airspace patrolled by Nato, UK officials say.
Four RAF F3 Tornado aircraft were scrambled in response to the Russian action, the UK's defence ministry said.

The Russian planes - long-range bombers - had earlier been followed by Norwegian F16 jets.

Russia recently revived a Cold War-era practice of flying bombers on long-range patrols.

In a statement the MoD said the eight Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear aircraft, flying in loose formation of four pairs, were initially intercepted by the Norwegian air force.

Radar tracking

They were tracked by the Norwegian aircraft until entering the Nato area for which the UK has responsibility in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Under established Nato procedures the MoD said it launched quick reaction alert aircraft in order to identify the bombers, as is routine.

Four F3 Tornados were launched in two waves from RAF Leeming, in North Yorkshire.

A Boeing E-3D airborne warning and control aircraft and a VC-10 refuelling tanker supported the operation, the MoD said.

The Russian bombers eventually altered course to leave the Nato zone, being tracked by UK aircraft and the radar station at RAF Boulmer, Northumberland.

The Russian military technology of today is the Soviet military technology of yesterday and is just as much garbage today as it was then.

Remember how the highlight of the Paris airshow used to be watching the Soviet aircraft disintegrate in midair?

I say that we should shoot a few of them down next time they invade NATO airspace. Let the whole world see how second rate Russian hardware is.