According to reports on July 6th, the UK Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying that two British fighter jets intercepted a Russian military aircraft that had been repeatedly approaching over the Norwegian Sea. The British jets shadowed the Russian plane until it left the area.
The statement noted that this incident occurred while the UK Carrier Strike Group was on a mission in the Norwegian Sea.
The British side claims that the Russian maritime patrol jet “unnecessarily” flew low over the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier multiple times and dropped ten sonobuoys in nearby waters. It is reported that the Russian jet did not respond to international air safety frequency calls.
The UK accused the Russian aircraft of acting “neither safe nor professional.”
The statement added that two British fighter jets, which had taken off from the HMS Prince of Wales, then intercepted and escorted the Russian jet until it left the area.
Reports indicate that the UK Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed near Iceland, operating under NATO command, and carries 1,500 British personnel. The group consists of the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, F-35 fighter jets, and several helicopters.
This is said to be the first time NATO has conducted an air alert operation from a European aircraft carrier.
File photo of the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.
As of now, Russia has not yet responded.
This incident has sparked panic in Britain. UK Defense Minister Dan Jarvis said, “We must be clear-eyed about the threat from Russia, which exists across all domains—underwater, on the surface, on land, in the air, in space, and in cyberspace.”
This is not the first recent friction between the UK and Russia in open waters. Previous reports stated that a Russian frigate fired warning shots at a yacht flying a British flag in the English Channel on June 16th.
Earlier, British armed forces also intercepted a sanctioned Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the English Channel on June 14th. The UK Ministry of Defense revealed that this was the first time the UK had led an interception of such a vessel.
In June of this year, UK Chief of Defense Staff General Sir Richard Knighton told reporters that Russia has been “probing, challenging, testing our defenses” and is “raising the stakes and crossing lines.”
NATO has repeatedly warned that Russia may be ready to use force by 2030.
