A Russian patrol aircraft staged “unsafe” activity near the U.K.’s flagship aircraft carrier as it conducted NATO air defense operations off Iceland, Britain’s defense ministry said Monday.
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 U.K. F-35 warplanes were dispatched from the carrier to intercept and escort the patrol plane until it departed, it said in a statement.
“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 Defense 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 defense 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.
In April, two Russian jets “repeatedly and dangerously” intercepted a British surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea, according to the U.K.’s defense ministry.
In June, a Russian frigate fired warning shots at a yacht crewed by a retired couple in the English Channel.
“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 defense 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 stunning resignation prompted further last-minute wrangling for extra money for the 10-year Defense Investment Plan.
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled the plan last week, announcing the government was aiming to spend almost $397 billion over the next four years.
The proposals see an extra $20 billion being pumped into defense 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 $37 billion the MoD had requested.
