British Jets In Syrian Air Fight Threat.

RAF fighter pilots came within a whisker of a full-scale dogfight with two Syrian jets. A pair of armed Typhoons were scrambled when the aircraft were spotted near Cyprus last Monday.Commanders feared the planes, said to be Syrian MIG-29s, were set to attack the RAF Akrotiri base on the island. 

The airfield houses UK warplanes and is now packed with French and US jets awaiting the green light to bomb Syria. In response, RAF chiefs launched the 1,300mph Typhoons from the base to intercept the fighters. But an international crisis was averted as the Syrian pilots did not cross into Cypriot airspace. Military sources now believe the jets were making “threatening” sorties to probe the island’s air defences.

The airborne incident got even more tense when the Turkish air force also scrambled two of their F-16 fighters to investigate the unidentified planes.

An MoD spokesman told us: “We can confirm that Typhoon air defence aircraft operated from RAF Akrotiri to investigate unidentified aircraft to the east of Cyprus.“The aircraft were flying legally in international airspace and no intercept was required.”

The UK has six Typhoons in the area in case president Assad’s forces retaliate against any American-led attack. The Royal Navy also has an anti-aircraft destroyer operating off Cyprus.