Russia was branded ‘reckless today’ after two of its warplanes targeted a UK-led carrier strike group in the Arctic, before being chased off by British fighters.
Defence secretary Dan Jarvis said that Vladimir Putin risked triggering a serious confrontation after it was revealed the aircraft came close to HMS Prince of Wales last week.
The ship launched F-35 fighters to intercept the pair of Bear maritime bomber and patrol aircraft which dropped sonobuoys, designed to discover submarines, around the ship in the Norwegian Sea.
The Ministry of Defence said the ageing Bears made a ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ low-level flypast of the warship on July 2 in the latest confrontation between Russian and Nato forces.
Prince of Wales has served as the flagship of Operation Firecrest since sailing from Portsmouth in April, with the carrier strike group’s headquarters based onboard.
The strike group of 1,500 British personnel is currently deployed off Iceland under NATO’s command in the High North to boost security in the region.
Facing MPs today Mr Jarvis said: ‘Russia poses a serious and serious threat to UK and European security in every domain.
‘Russia’s reckless military action involving Nato aircraft and airspace risk miscalculation and escalation, including their multiple reckless overflights of our aircraft carrier last week.’
The Russian planes were intercepted and escorted away from the carrier vessel by two UK F-35 jets from HMS Prince of Wales (pictured)
Facing MPs today Mr Jarvis said: ‘Russia poses a serious and serious threat to UK and European security in every domain’
The MOD said the Bears dropped ‘tens of sonobuoys’ before being chased away.
They are small, expendable floating device dropped into the sea from an aircraft or ship to detect and track submarines.
It’s understood the Russian aircraft did not respond when operators attempted to contact them to establish their intentions.
The incident comes as Britain takes command of NATO’s frontline rapid-response force, known as the alliance’s ‘spearhead’, which can deploy troops to global hotspots within days.
The group consists of HMS Prince of Wales, Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, F-35 jets, Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, and is supported by RFA Tidespring.
A MoD spokesperson said: ‘While operating in the Norwegian Sea on Operation FIRECREST, the UK’s Carrier Strike Group was repeatedly approached by a Russian ‘Bear-F’ maritime patrol aircraft.
‘The Bear-F passed at low altitude and unnecessarily close to HMS Prince of Wales and dropped a large number of sonobuoys in close proximity to the carrier.
‘This activity was unsafe and unprofessional. The Russian aircraft was intercepted and escorted by two UK F-35 jets from HMS Prince of Wales until it left the area.’
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said two ‘Bear-F’ maritime patrol aircraft (pictured left) dropped numerous sonobuoys not far from the UK’s Carrier Strike Group on July 2
The tense moment (pictured) comes just weeks after Royal Marines seized the Russian-linked tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel
Mr Jarvis visited UK forces on board the flagship HMS Prince of Wales over the weekend.
He told Channel 4 News: ‘We should be clear-eyed about the fact that the threat from Russia exists in every domain, under the water, on the water, on the land, in the sky, in space and in cyberspace as well.’
He said Andy Burnham, who is all but guaranteed to be the next prime minister, ‘understands the importance of defending our nation’ and will make sure ‘we’ve got the resources we need to keep the country safe’.
But the Conservatives said the encounter ‘underlines once again that the threat from Russia is real’.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, urged the Government to hike defence spending, and added: ‘Only by prioritising defence spending over a bigger welfare state can the Government hope to deliver the funding our forces need.
‘That’s why we’ve repeatedly offered to support the Government, and work together in the national interest, to take the tough decisions necessary to cut welfare and back our armed forces with the resources needed to keep us safe,’ he said.
The latest encounter comes less than a month after Royal Marines seized the Russian-linked tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel.
Commandos boarded the sanctioned oil tanker from a helicopter during a six-hour operation targeting Moscow’s ‘shadow fleet’.
Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis (pictured) visited UK forces on board the HMS Prince of Wales over the weekend
Helicopters intercepted the Smyrtos in the first operation of its kind (pictured)
The tanker was part of Russia’s fleet of 700 ships currently acting as its ‘lifeline’ by transporting 75 per cent of its oil and helping fund the war against Ukraine.
Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to comprise more than 1,000 ageing tankers that illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West.
Closing off British waters to the shadow fleet is aimed at forcing the Russian vessels into taking longer, more costly sea routes, or risk being intercepted by the UK.
British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years, and have supported operations by other countries to seize the ships.
In May, Russian jets brazenly imperilled a Royal Air Force spy plane as Vladimir Putin’s pilots flew reckless passes at more than 500mph over the Black Sea.
The MoD said the CMR Smyrtos (pictured) has been sailing under a false Cameroonian flag
One of the fighters flew within 20ft of the nose of the RAF Rivet Joint, ignoring every internationally recognised guideline designed to prevent tragedy in the skies.
The slightest error would have cost the lives of everyone involved on both sides.
The Russian fighter pilots, in what is known as a ‘Crazy Ivan’ manoeuvre that is designed to unsettle the enemy, conducted six harrowingly close passes, causing the RAF’s autopilot system to disengage and trigger emergency procedures.
The term ‘Crazy Ivan’ originated in the Cold War and initially referred to submarines whose captains turned unexpectedly to see if they were being followed.
Its usage has expanded over the years to cover any reckless behaviour at sea or in the air by the Russian military.
Elsewhere, the UK Government has sanctioned the scientists and institutions responsible for developing the Novichok nerve agent used in the 2018 Salisbury assassination plot.
Dawn Sturgess died after coming into contact with the poison, which was used in an attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The sanctions announced by the Foreign Office also targeted the Russians involved in the development of the Epibatidine toxin used against Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition leader and critic of Vladimir Putin.