Two British traffic patrol officers from North Berwick were involved in
an unusual incident while checking for speeding motorists on the A1
Great North Road. One of the officers used a hand held radar device to
check the speed of a vehicle approaching over the crest of a hill, and
was surprised when the speed was recorded at over 300 mph. Their radar
suddenly stopped working and the officers were not able to reset it.
Just then a deafening roar over the tree tops revealed that the radar
had in fact latched on to a NATO Tornado fighter jet which was engaged
in low flying exercise over the Border district, approaching from the
North Sea.
Back at police headquarters the chief constable fired off a stiff letter
of complaint to the RAF Liaison Office. By return came the reply in
true laconic RAF style:
"Thank you for your message, which now allows us to complete the file
on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical
computer in the Tornado had detected the presence of, and subsequently
locked onto, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a
jamming signal back to it. Furthermore, an air-to-ground missile aboard
the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically locked onto your
equipment. Fortunately the pilot flying the Tornado recognized the
situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile systems
alert status, and was able to override the automated defence system
before the missile was launched and your hostile radar installation was
destroyed.
Good Day"
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