Tornado "zaps" Police radar gun

[lbaspotter]

Top this for a speeding ticket...

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 treetops revealed that the radar had in fact latched on to a NATO Tornado fighter jet which was engaged in a low-flying exercise over the Border district, approaching from the North Sea.

Back at police headquarters the chief constable fired off a stiff complaint to the RAF Liaison office.

Back came the reply in true laconic RAF style:

'Thank you for your message, which 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...'

 

[airforced]

If this is true lbaspotter and not just a new 'urban myth' that is doing the rounds what a brill response from the boys in powder blue.

 

[Pat]

Back in the early 90s we had a british airways 747 land at Raf Scampton on an open day. 2 police officers were invited onto the flight deck whilst there tonuge in cheek they handed a speeding ticket to the captain who sent it onto his bosses,who put it into the company magazine and also did a press release.Most daily national papers one entered into the spirit of it seeing it as a joke except one which twisted it round and had a go at the local police for wasting public money on having police officers carrying out spped checks on aircraft.

 

[Travelfrog]

I've seen a video on this a few months or so ago , that may shed some additional light onto the conversation about this being a myth or not.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thank you for that link, Travelfrog.

Seems pretty clear from the video that this is an urban myth because police radar is not normally powerful enough to do more than show up as ground clutter on a fighter aicraft's instruments, and even then the radar gun would have to be pointed skywards.

The video depicts an American example which suggest that this myth is not confined to the UK.

It's an amusing story but obviously one with no foundation.

 

[Travelfrog]

Hey TheLocalYokel,

My pleasure! I've been reading about many myths during my travels, and this came up just accidentally while browsing for other myths on youtube. Without even waiting for the conclusion, I would assume that the radar has to be adjusted to completely different parameters, making it very unlikely that the officer would not notice the oncoming jet.

Nevertheless, it is a fun story, making me wonder how did they ever grow so popular during the days of no social media?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Nevertheless, it is a fun story, making me wonder how did they ever grow so popular during the days of no social media?

I'm straying off topic slightly but urban myths have always been with us, or at least for hundreds of years.

In a way the Internet, whether social media or web sites like this one, makes it easier to debunk these myths as you've proved with your video link, though of course they also make it easier to spread false stories whether light-heartedly or maliciously.

In my area there is an airfield at Filton on the edge of Bristol, or there was because the runway was closed at the end of last year though the aviation industries there such as Airbus and BAE will remain.

For years the local press consistently reported that the Filton runway is (was, now of course) one of the longest in the country whenever Filton airfield was in the news for anything. Its 2,467 metres length made it nowhere near that but the press and local radio/tv continued with the myth year after year. How it started and why it continued I have no idea.

A belated welcome to you from me too. I hope you enjoy the site. I'm sure you will.