Danger in the skies as Russia, NATO play cat-and-mouse

BRUSSELS - Recent close shaves between Russian fighters and civilian aircraft highlight the dangers of the cat-and-mouse game being played out between Moscow and the West in European skies amid the crisis in Ukraine, analysts say.

In the latest incident, Sweden said Friday that a Russian military jet nearly collided with a passenger plane south of Malmoe shortly after take-off from Copenhagen International Airport.

Both countries called in their Russian ambassadors to protest, only to be told that a huge increase in Russian military activity in recent months was "a response to NATO's activities and escalation in the region."

Russia later accused Swedish authorities of being under the influence after smoking too much cannabis.

But such incidents are no joke for European authorities, with memories still fresh from the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine by a missile that the West alleges was fired by pro-Russian separatists.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has begun an investigation into a series of near-misses with Russian military aircraft not using the transponders which identify them and tell other planes of their position.

This practice is particularly dangerous, analysts said.

Transponders turned off

"While Russia claims that its military aircraft remain in international airspace, to do so while turning off transponders and swooping close to other aerial platforms is very dangerous," Brooks Tigner, chief editor and policy analyst at Security Europe, told AFP.

"That is disruptive to accepted international air safety rules and a risky game for Russia to play," Tigner said.

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Danger in the skies as Russia, NATO play cat-and-mouse