RAF jets reported 'close encounters with two unidentified drones in British skies' this year

Published: 23:54 BST, 16 October 2026 | Updated: 00:34 BST, 17 October 2026

Royal Air Force jets almost collided with two unidentified drones in British skies earlier this year. 

The encounters, which occurred only days apart in February, took place over the North Sea during an air-to-air refuelling exercise and simulated air combat training.

The objects - neither of which showed up on radar - were reported to authorities by the RAF, with 'multiple different external investigations' currently ongoing.

The first sighting, on February 18, happened off Cromer in Norfolk as an RAF Airbus Voyager tanker was refuelling a Typhoon fighter jet.

The pilot - who later reported the sighting to military controllers - ducked the aircraft after the object passed close by, remarking to the RAF radar controller overseeing the refuelling exercise it could be a 'potential drone'.

He said: 'Uh yeah, just had something go overhead of us – potential drone at one seven zero – have you got anything on your screen?'

'One seven zero' is code for an altitude of 17,000ft - the height the object was flying and more than 40 times the legal height limit for drones.

Earlier this year, Royal Air Force jets almost collided with two unidentified drones in British skies (Pictured: A Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft)

The sightings took place over the North Sea during an air-to-air refuelling exercise and simulated air combat training.(Pictured: Three different RAF Typhoon fighter jets fly over the North Sea)

The controller said he did not spot a drone on the radar, but in a subsequent report the pilot further added the object's 'proximity' made him 'instinctively duck and was notified to ATC [air traffic control] as a drone.'

The second sighting took place less than one week later, on February 23, when the pilot of a Typhoon jet practicing dogfights with another jet noticed a 'black circular object (similar in size to a car tyre) pass directly above him'.

According to a Defence Aviation Safety Occurrence Report filed afterwards, the object was said to have passed 'approximately 300ft above' the Typhoon, which had been operating approximately 30 miles off Humberside.

The pilot had informed the radar controller monitoring the mock dogfight 'a drone' or 'what looked like a drone' passed approximately 300 feet above the aircraft. The controller then reported this to North Yorkshire Police.

Findings from the RAF concluded both pilots acted appropriately following the sightings, with a local investigation after the second discovering 'no causal factors' as the 'Airprox [air proximity incident] happened off frequency and the drone did not display on radar'.

At present, the sightings - recorded as 'Voyager vs drone' and 'Typhoon vs drone' - have not been linked to hostile powers.

But the incidents took place just days before the beginning of the US war with Iran, with fears growing hostile powers are now utilising drones to spy on the West.

Both also operated at an altitude far above levels achievable by most commercially available craft and neither showed up on radar - further raising suspicions.

Only weeks following the sightings, US armed forces spotted similar drones at Fort McNair, a Washington DC military outpost where senior US government officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live.

And earlier this year, defence experts concluded drones spotted over Norfolk and Suffolk US air bases had ties to a Russian ship stationed just off the coast.