Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets intercepted and escorted two Russian Bear F maritime patrol aircraft after they repeatedly approached the United Kingdom's HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier in the Norwegian Sea. The incident occurred on July 2 as the UK's Carrier Strike Group operated under NATO command.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported that the Russian aircraft passed at a low altitude and unnecessarily close to the HMS Prince of Wales, dropping a significant number of sonobuoys in close proximity to the carrier. Sonobuoys are expendable devices used to detect and track submarines.
Two UK F-35 jets scrambled from the HMS Prince of Wales intercepted the Russian planes. According to the MoD, the Russian aircraft did not respond when operators attempted to establish their intentions. The F-35s escorted the Bear F aircraft until they left the area, with the MoD deeming the activity "unsafe and unprofessional."
The encounter happened while the Carrier Strike Group was deployed in the High North as part of efforts to bolster North Atlantic security. The HMS Prince of Wales is currently serving as the flagship for Operation Firecrest, with the strike group's headquarters operating from onboard since the carrier departed Portsmouth in April.
This event follows a recent operation in the English Channel less than a month prior, where Royal Marines seized the Russian-linked tanker Smyrtos. That operation targeted Moscow's 'shadow fleet,' a group of vessels reportedly used to illicitly transport Russian oil and evade Western sanctions. The tanker, believed to have been sailing under a false Cameroonian flag, was part of an estimated fleet of over a thousand aging tankers.
The UK's assumption of command of NATO's frontline rapid-response force, known as the alliance's 'spearhead,' also coincides with these recent maritime encounters. This elite unit is tasked with rapidly deploying troops to global hotspots.