UK defence secretary sends warning to Putin over submarines

Defense Minister John Healey has a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin: “We are hunting your submarines.”

It says there has been a “30% increase in Russian ships threatening UK waters”.

According to Healey, this is evidence of increasing “Russian aggression on all sides” affecting not only Ukraine but also Europe.

Russia’s submarine activities in the North Atlantic have now returned to Cold War-era levels, the Ministry of Defense said.

The RAF and the Royal Navy are increasing their surveillance in the North Atlantic, where Russian submarines are most active. The RAF flies flying missions most days, sometimes around the clock, and is often supported by other NATO allies.

BBC News joined the defense secretary on a flight with one of the RAF’s new P-8 aircraft, the first media allowed to observe an active mission.

Members of the nine-man crew face monitors that show them what’s happening above and below the surface of the water.

It’s essentially a high-tech spy plane, which is one reason why we weren’t allowed to film or photograph any of the displays.

From the outside, the P-8 may just look like an airplane painted gray and with fewer windows. It is actually the fuselage of a Boeing 737, but its interior is equipped with advanced cameras, sensors and listening devices.

Observing the crews at work, Healey told me: “Russia is challenging us; it’s testing us; it’s monitoring us. But these planes allow us to tell Putin: we’re watching you; we’re hunting your submarines.”

The crew initially follows a series of surface ships using the aircraft’s cameras to look for any suspicious equipment or activity. Sometimes they fly only a few hundred meters above the waves.

Last year, an RAF P-8 with assistance from the Royal Navy was tracking the Russian spy ship Yantar, which was reportedly navigating submarine cables in the Irish Sea.

Western countries are increasingly concerned that Russia may try to cut critical undersea cables as part of its hybrid warfare, causing chaos and disruption of internet communications.

They then change the mission to hunt for submarines. There are 129 active and passive sonar buoys at the back of the aircraft that can detect underwater sounds.

A loud explosion is heard as the buoys fire automatically. One of the cameras on the ship shows them parachuting into the water. There is no sign of torpedoes the aircraft could have carried to destroy submarines.

One of the crew admits that finding a submarine is not always that easy.

But they know the characteristic sound of Russian submarines, and a wider network of underwater sensors helps them. In August, the RAF, operating with US and Norwegian P-8s, tracked a Russian submarine following the American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford conducting exercises in the North Atlantic.

It’s a team sport, and the team is about to get even bigger, with Germany ordering eight of its own P-8 aircraft. Healey will be accompanied by his German counterpart Boris Pistorius on this flight.

German military personnel are already training alongside their British counterparts and a German navy pilot is in the cockpit as part of this mission.

Germany plans to frequently fly its own maritime patrols from RAF Lossiemouth – Pistorius tells me why.

“The North Atlantic is very important and is under threat from Russian nuclear submarines,” he says. “So we need to know what’s going on here in the deep sea.”

The presence of the German defense minister underlines the deepening of defense relations with the UK. There is much closer cooperation in pursuit Signing of the Trinity House Agreement last year on defense

Germany is already investing in Britain to build new tanks and armored vehicles for the British Army. During this visit, Pistorius announced that Germany would purchase British-made Sting Ray torpedoes for its P-8 aircraft. The two countries also promise to work together on cyber security.

Pistorius and Healey are currently leading European efforts to supply arms to Ukraine. Now they’re turning their attention closer to home.

Pistorius says there is evidence of Russia’s hybrid warfare every day: “fake news, disinformation, hybrid attacks, threats to undersea infrastructure.”

He says: “It’s time to be more aware of what’s going on.”