MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. The Russian Northern Fleet’s MiG-31 fighter jets have been scrambled to intercept Orion maritime patrol aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force over the Barents Sea for the third day in a row, the Russian National Defense Control Center told reporters on Saturday.

According to the Russian military, on September 5 Russian radars detected a target in international airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea. The aircraft was heading towards the Russian sovereign airspace.

"A MiG-31 fighter jet of the Northern Fleet’s air defense units on duty was scrambled to identify and intercept the target in midair so as to prevent its authorized incursion into the Russian airspace," the center said. "The Russian jet’s crew identified the air target as a P-3S Orion maritime surveillance aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force."

The National Defense Control Center pointed out that after the Norway’s strategic reconnaissance aircraft had turned away from the Russian airspace, the MiG-31 returned to its home airfield.

On Thursday and Friday, the MiG-31 jet had also been scrambled to intercept Norway’s same type aircraft over the Barents Sea.

The center emphasized that all the flights of the Russian fighter jets took place in strict accordance with international airspace rules. The Norwegian aircraft were not allowed to illegally cross the Russian border in those three incidents.