Spanish fighter jets were scrambled when it was learned that two Russian bomber aircraft were skirting Spanish airspace off the coast of Bilbao in the northeast, it has emerged.
The F-18s were dispatched to see off two Russian Blackjack bombers.
Spain was the fourth Nato country to have to take action. The Russian jets had already tickled the edges of Norway, the UK and France before getting to Spain.
The event occurred on 22 September but was only made public this week when the French Defence Ministry issued a report which called the incident an “air policing mission”.
According to a statement, Norway first detected the Russian jets in the north and scrambled two F-16 fighters to intercept them when the Russians turned towards the north of Scotland.
Britain's Royal Air Force then dispatched Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth as the Russian planes nudged British airspace west of Shetland.
Two French Rafale fighter jets then accompanied the Russian Blackjacks as they skirted the west of Ireland, boosted by another two Rafale jets when the Russians headed south.
Spain then sent two of its F-18 fighters to intercept the Russians off Bilbao at which point the bombers turned around and headed back north.
Spanish media reported it to have been the first time Russian aircraft had been intercepted so far south.
