Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis has warned that Russia's reckless military actions risk triggering a miscalculation and escalation in tensions with Nato, following an incident in which a Russian aircraft dropped sonar buoys near the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
Incident in the Norwegian Sea
The incident occurred on Thursday last week in the Norwegian Sea, where a Russian Tupolev Tu-142 Bear-F maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft repeatedly flew over HMS Prince of Wales. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated that the Bear-F passed at low altitude and unnecessarily close to the carrier, dropping a large number of sonobuoys in close proximity.
Two UK F-35B fighter jets were launched from HMS Prince of Wales to intercept and escort the Russian aircraft until it left the area. The British forces attempted to contact the Russian plane on international frequencies, but it did not respond.
Jarvis warns of escalation risk
Speaking to MPs, Mr Jarvis said: "Russia poses a serious and persistent threat to UK and European security in every domain – under water, on the water, on the land, in the sky, space and cyber. And Russia's reckless military actions involving Nato aircraft and airspace risk miscalculation and escalation, including their multiple reckless overflights of our aircraft carrier just last week."
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned the Russian action as "unprofessional" and "reckless", adding: "The United Kingdom did exactly what needed to be done. Let me commend the British military for the actions they took."
Details of the operation
The UK's Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed off Iceland under Nato command, with 1,500 British personnel on board. The group consists of HMS Prince of Wales and its F-35 jets, Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, and support vessel RFA Tidespring. The Bear-F is believed to have dropped tens of sonobuoys, small sonar monitoring devices that float on the water to detect submarines and other vessels.
Political reactions
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: "This underlines once again that the threat from Russia is real, and why Labour must set out exactly how they are going to fund their shambolic defence investment plan."
Additional sanctions
Separately, the UK Government has sanctioned the scientists and institutions responsible for developing the Novichok nerve agent used in the 2018 Salisbury assassination plot. Dawn Sturgess died after coming into contact with the poison, which was used in an attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The sanctions also targeted those involved in the development of the Epibatidine toxin used against opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
