British fighters scrambled to intercept Russian TU-95 strategic bombers off the coast of southern England on Wednesday, less than a month after a contentious overflight of the English Channel. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the Kremlin appears to be “trying to make some sort of a point,” and that he did not “think we should dignify it with too much of a response,” reported the BBC. The British government summoned the Russian ambassador to London to answer for an unannounced bomber incursion that jeopardized commercial flight safety on Jan. 28. Britain’s Defense Minister Michael Fallon said the previous incident was “the first time since the height of the Cold War” Russian bombers had flown down the Channel. “They are testing NATO, so we need to respond,” he added. The number of NATO scrambles to intercept unannounced Russian air activity nearly tripled in 2014, allied officials said previously.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.