Royal Navy Monitors Russian Naval Activity Near UK Waters
The Royal Navy has confirmed it activated warships and helicopters for the second time this month to monitor Russian naval activity in and near UK waters, as tensions remain elevated in the North Atlantic and Baltic regions, The Gaze reports.
Portsmouth-based HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, shadowed the Russian intelligence-gathering ship Yuri Ivanovas it loitered off the Outer Hebrides, shortly after the NATO Formidable Shield military exercise concluded nearby.
HMS Dragon deployed its Merlin helicopter to collect aerial intelligence until the Russian vessel eventually departed north toward the Arctic.
In a separate operation, HMS Hurworth, HMS Ledbury, and 814 Naval Air Squadron were mobilized to monitor the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy, which was seen escorting two cargo ships, Sparta IV and General Skobelev, as they transited through the English Channel on their way back to the Baltic Sea from the Mediterranean.
“Monitoring activity on the seas and seabed around the UK is one of the core roles of the Royal Navy’s 2nd Mine-Countermeasures Squadron,” said Lieutenant Commander James Bradshaw, commanding officer of HMS Hurworth.
The five-day operation aligns with the UK’s bolstered defence posture following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP as part of the government’s broader Plan for Change.
As The Gaze previously reported, Russian sensors, spying on British nuclear submarines, have been found in the seas around the UK.
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