RAF fighter jets were scrambled over concerns of a suspected Russian long-range bomber approaching the UK on Tuesday.
Two RAF Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, and a Voyager refuelling jet from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire were deployed, flying towards Shetland off Scotland's north east coast.
The unidentified Russian warplane stayed outside of British airspace and did not need to be intercepted, with the Typhoons returning to base.
The Telegraph reported that Britain’s involvement in tracking the aircraft was part of a wider response by Nato allies.
This is not the first time the jets have been deployed to deter Russian long-range aircraft approaching the UK.
In 2020, two Russian Bear-F Tu-142 long-range aircraft were intercepted by six Typhoons as they travelled towards the UK.
The Russian bombers, known as Blackjacks, were built to carry nuclear missiles and have a wingspan of more than 50 metres. An RAF source said they were “a hazard to other aviation” because they were not talking to air traffic control or broadcasting their locations.
Vladimir Putin has challenged the UK in recent weeks, with warships, submarines, spy ships and sanctioned oil tankers passing close to UK waters.
Russia sent a warship to escort two sanctioned tankers through the English Channel, one of which was carrying “military relevant” cargo which will be used directly by the Russian army, according to The i Paper.
A senior Nato source said that they fear Russia is now using the Channel for deliveries “frequently”, with this being at least the sixth occasion a Russian tanker has sailed through the Channel with a warship escort in the past 12 months.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has threatened to take action, authorising special forces to seize the vessels, but Britain has not taken any action against the vessels as yet.
Defence Secretary John Healy revealed last week that the UK military and their allies foiled a Russian mission in British waters.
A Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from Russia’s ministry of defence deep sea research programme known as Gugi (Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research) were tracked loitering over vital undersea energy and data cables in the North Atlantic.
Healy said that Putin was seeking to capitalise on the world being “distracted” by the Iran war and that he poses “the primary threat to UK security”.
He added that the attack submarine was a decoy, while the two Gugi spy vessels spent time over critical undersea infrastructure.
Russia has previously been accused of sabotaging pipelines and cables in the Baltics, which it denies, but Healey said he was “confident” that none had been damaged in the recent incident.
In a direct message to Russia, Healey said: “To President Putin, I say: we see you, we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”
He added: “In response to the Russian submarines, I can confirm that I deployed our armed forces to track and to deter any malign activity by these vessels. A Royal Navy warship and Royal Air Force P-8 aircraft alongside allies ensured that the Russian submarines were monitored 24/7.
“Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored, that their movements were not covert, as President Putin planned, and that their attempted secret operation had been exposed. Those Gugi submarines have now left UK waters and headed back north.”
The Defence Secretary said that 500 British personnel were involved in the month-long operation, which saw RAF crews fly more than 50 sorties using P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft, supported by allied countries including Norway.
The Standard has contacted the Ministry of Defence for comment.
