Norway says patrol plane in international airspace over Barents Sea was intercepted by Russian jets

By Reuters June 6, 2017
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A F-22 Raptor from the 1st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base takes off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage on Tuesday morning, June 23, 2015, while participating in Alaska's premier joint training exercise Northern Edge. A Navy P-3 Orion is in the background. (Bill Roth / Alaska Dispatch News)
A F-22 Raptor from the 1st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base takes off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage on Tuesday morning, June 23, 2015. A Navy P-3 Orion is in the background. A similar Norwegian plane encountered Russian fighter jets over the Barents Sea Tuesday, officials said. (Bill Roth / Alaska Dispatch News)

OSLO — A Norwegian surveillance plane flew in international airspace on Tuesday and met with Russian planes in an encounter that was described as normal, the Norwegian military said on Tuesday.

“There has been a Norwegian Orion (plane) in the area (of the Barents Sea), which happens several times a week. It was flying in international airspace,” Lieutenant Colonel Ivar Moen, a spokesman at the Norwegian armed forces, told Reuters.

“It was identified as normal by Russian fighter jets, in the same way Norwegian forces identify Russian planes,” said Moen, adding that it was not normal for military planes to fly with a transponders on.

“Norwegian planes also scramble to identify Russian planes along the coast of Norway. It happens regularly,” he said.

Reporting by Camilla Knudsen, writing by Gwladys Fouche.