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A Russian patrol aircraft staged “unsafe” activity near the UK’s flagship aircraft carrier as it conducted NATO air defence operations off Iceland, Britain’s defence ministry said on Monday.
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The Bear-F plane “repeatedly approached” the carrier group last week, passing the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier “unnecessarily close” at low altitude and dropping numerous sonar devices nearby, according to the ministry.
Two UK F-35 warplanes were dispatched from the carrier to intercept and escort the patrol plane until it departed, it added.
“This activity was unsafe and unprofessional,” an ministry spokesperson said of Thursday’s incident in the Norwegian Sea in the so-called High North.
The allegations emerged as the ministry said Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis and Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir had visited HMS Prince of Wales over the weekend.
The Royal Navy carrier is leading the group on a mission to defend the North Atlantic “against increasing Russian threats,” according to the ministry.
The mission has seen F-35 jets conduct NATO air defence operations from a European aircraft carrier for the first time and comes amid heightened tensions with Russia.
Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its “hybrid war” tactics in the strategic region.
“We live in an increasingly dangerous and uncertain time and it’s deployments like this, supported by allies and partners including Iceland, that improve our deterrence and defence as part of NATO,” Jarvis said in a statement.
In the statement, Gunnarsdottir added the deployment was “a clear demonstration of NATO’s enhanced presence in this strategically important region.”
Jarvis only took up his post less than a month ago after predecessor John Healey quit, accusing the government of failing to commit enough money in a modernisation plan to protect Britain.
The shock resignation prompted further last-minute wrangling for extra money for the 10-year Defence Investment Plan.
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled the plan last week, announcing the government was aiming to spend almost £300 billion (€350 billion) over the next four years.
The proposals see an extra £15 billion (€17 billion) being pumped into defence spending up to 2030, the year by which UK intelligence has suggested Russia could attack a NATO country.
But it fell far short of the reported £28 billion (€32 billion) the MoD had requested.
Additional sources • AFP
