The Royal Navy and RAF followed multiple Russian ships and submarines through the English Channel the week at a time of heightened tension.
HMS Iron Duke and HMS Tyne have tracked four Russian vessels through UK waters in recent days as RAF jets intercepted a Russian strategic bomber on Wednesday.
The Navy’s warships have shadowed the Russian advances to ‘protect national security’ as four vessels sailed through the Channel and the North Sea.
Two RAF Typhoons were also scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth on Wednesday, supported by a Voyager from RAF Brize Norton, to intercept Russian Bear-F aircraft.
The developments come at a point of heightened tension between Russia and Britain over Moscow‘s ongoing war in Ukraine and Britain’s backing of Kyiv – with a top Kremlin mouthpiece and former President threatening to ‘sink’ Britain this week.
HMS Iron Duke shadowed the Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk and its supporting tug Evgeny Churov through the Dover Strait and into the Atlantic
HMS Iron Duke (back right) following Russian Navy Steregushchiy-class corvette RFS Stoiky
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
Intercept of a Tu-95 Bear F on September 11 2024 captured from the pilot’s handheld camera
‘The island called Britain is likely to sink in the next few years,’ Dmitry Medvedev posted on his personal social media account, adding: ‘Our hypersonic missiles will help if necessary.’
Medvedev’s threat against Britain follows a series of declarations from Putin’s propagandists demanding nuclear strikes to drown the UK under tsunamis triggered by his hypersonic missiles or high-speed Poseidon underwater drone.
And Putin has himself warned Britain and other Western backers of Ukraine face the harshest of consequences if they permit Ukraine to unleash NATO-supplied long-range missiles at military targets deep inside Russia.
John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said that the ‘efforts by the Royal Navy and RAF over the last two weeks demonstrate their selfless commitment to protecting our national security.
‘This government is committed to making the UK secure at home and strong abroad,’ he added in a statement.Â
‘I’d like to thank those members of our armed forces who took part in this operation, their professionalism and skill was on full display while working seamlessly with our NATO allies to uphold international standards.’Â
The Navy worked with its NATO allies to choreograph the shadowing of the Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk and its supporting tug Evgeny Churov through the Dover Strait and into the Atlantic.
The careful operation started at the beginning of September when Canadian warship HMCS Shawinigan escorted the diesel-powered submarine and her support vessel as they sailed from the Baltic and headed across the North Sea.
The Canadian patrol ship handed over monitoring duties to the Royal Navy as the Russian vessels approached the busy Dover Strait.
From there HMS Iron Duke ensured constant watch on the two vessels, using her many sensors including her Wildcat helicopter, from 815 Naval Air Squadron, in the air.Â
The submarine remained on the surface throughout the operation.
Once the Russian vessels had passed UK waters, HMS Iron Duke handed over shadowing duties to the Marine Nationale off the northwest coast of France, where the frigate FS Auvergne took up the mission.
The ship then returned immediately to the North Sea for a near carbon copy operation – this time with Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoiky and tanker MT Yaz as it approached Dover, picking up shadowing duties from the Belgian Navy, whose patrol vessel BNS Castor had kept watch up to that point.
The RAF was also called in to track a Tupolev Tu-95 bear strategic bomber flying near the UK.
Royal Navy warships have spent the past week closely shadowing the Russian Navy as four of its vessels sailed through the Channel and the North Sea, helping to protect national security
The Royal Navy said: ‘The RAF jets were launched under NATO command and worked closely with our partners to monitor the aircraft as they passed through international airspace.Â
‘Our Typhoon fighters escorted the aircraft out of the UK’s Flight Information Region and at no time did the Russian aircraft enter UK sovereign airspace.’
Typhoons are part of the RAF’s Quick Reaction Alert, which sees aircraft in Scotland and England at high-readiness 365 days a year ready to defend and protect UK airspace.
Throughout both journeys past the UK, the Russian warships and their support vessels were closely monitored by UK forces to ensure they acted in a safe and non-threatening manner.
The journeys are permitted under international law in accordance with the right of innocent passage.
‘These were the fourth and fifth such operations for HMS Iron Duke since we emerged from a period of intense training in July,’ said Commanding Officer of HMS Iron Duke Commander David Armstrong.
‘I am extremely proud of the professionalism and selfless dedication that my ship’s company consistently display as they perform their duty.
‘Maritime security operations of this nature are a fundamental capability of the Royal Navy, with the protection of our sovereign waters and critical national infrastructure a key focus.’
Russia has meanwhile been carrying out war games with artillery firing in the Barents Sea as part of the largest naval exercise since the Cold War.Â
New drills included Northern Fleet forces launching Vulkan and Onyx cruise missiles against a simulated Western adversary in the Arctic sea off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia.Â
Those drills involved the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov and Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft. Separately, Tu-22M3 bombers struck an ‘enemy’ ship group.
Artillery firing at a sea target was carried out by the Russian Northern Fleet’s ship strike group, including the frigates Admiral Kasatonov and Admiral Golovko.
Naval drills were also underway in the Caspian Sea.
