RAF Lossiemouth based aircraft have been in action over the English Channel this week escorting Russian aircraft that came close to UK airspace.
Typhoons from the Moray base were scrambled alongside aircraft from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to intercept Russian Bear over the English Channel to the south of Portsmouth.
An MoD spokesman said: “The Russian planes were escorted until they were out of the UK area of interest – at no point did they cross into UK airspace.”
The latest incident follows the Lossiemouth jets being scrambled twice in 24 hours in November during activities described by NATO as being an “unusual level of significant military manoeuvres”.
Lossiemouth’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) crews took to the air minutes after the Russian aircraft were detected on an “unusual flight path”.
Moray MP and the SNP defence spokesman at Westminster, Angus Robertson, said that the latest incident was “concerning”, adding: “We need to get some answers from the MoD about what action they have taken and what has been going on.”