Royal Navy HMS Dragon shadows Russian warship off Outer Hebrides
The Russian vessel then departed, heading for its base in the Arctic.
The incident of Russian activity in UK waters occurred following the completion of the major NATO exercise Formidable Shield, which took place nearby his month.
It is the second time in May British warships have been deployed to monitor Russian ships.
HMS Dragon's Merlin helicopter was deployed (Image: Royal Navy) Earlier this month, HMS Ledbury, HMS Hurworth and 814 Naval Air Squadron were activated to shadow RFN Stoikiy as the Russian warship sailed west through the Channel to meet two merchant vessels, Sparta IV and General Skobelev, which were returning from the Mediterranean.
The Steregushchiy-class corvette subsequently escorted the two cargo ships eastbound, with Portsmouth-based HMS Hurworth watching every move as the Russian group headed back to the Baltic Sea, as part of combined NATO efforts.
This five-day operation follows the Prime Minister's historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP to protect working people and deliver on the foundation of our Plan for Change.
READ MORE: Is it actually possible for Ukraine to ever secure a just peace? Russia declares 'full ceasefire' in Ukraine for three days to celebrate VE day
Lieutenant Commander James Bradshaw, Commanding Officer of Hunt-class minehunter HMS Hurworth, said: 'Monitoring activity on the seas and seabed around the UK is one of the core roles of the Royal Navy's 2nd Mine-Countermeasures Squadron.
'This operation was all in a day's work for the ship's company who have shown great professionalism.
'We have kept a constant watch to ensure the security and integrity of the UK's critical sea-lanes.'
HMS Hurworth tracks RFN Stoikiy (Image: Royal Navy) HMS Ledbury met Stoikiy late on May 18, monitoring the Russian warship through the Dover Strait during its westbound journey – before HMS Hurworth took over on May 19 off Brighton.
Hurworth kept watch as Stoikiy met the two merchant vessels south-west of Land's End, with the minehunter then tracking the group eastbound through the Channel and into the North Sea until the operation ended on the afternoon of May 22.
During the eastbound transit, a Merlin Mk2 from 814 Naval Air Squadron based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose monitored the Russian group, with aircraft and warships from NATO allies also involved.
Lieutenant Commander Craig Clark, Commanding Officer of HMS Ledbury, said: 'Escorting Russian vessels through UK waters is a vital demonstration of our unwavering commitment to national security.
'Whilst the Hunt-class is uniquely equipped for mine and sea-bed warfare, maritime security remains a crucial task that any Royal Navy warship is trained to undertake.'
HMS Dragon shadowed the Russian ship until it sailed off (Image: Royal Navy) Able Seaman Mine Warfare Wayne Slater, from HMS Hurworth, said: 'Driving the ship close to the Russian vessels has been a new experience for me as a helmsman.
'Everything has been safe and professional but we're all trained to make sure we can respond to any aggression or incident whenever non-allied warships are operating near UK waters.'
Lieutenant Patrick Bingham, Gunnery Officer from HMS Hurworth, added: 'As a former merchant navy officer, I know how important freedom of the seas is to the lifeline of goods and raw materials upon which our economy depends.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
34 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland's presidential election
The close race had the country on edge since a first-round two weeks earlier and through the night into Monday, revealing deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union. An early exit poll released on Sunday evening suggested Mr Trzaskowski was headed to victory before updated polling began to reverse the picture hours later. Presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, a liberal pro-European Union figure, addresses supporters at his headquarters (AP/Petr David Josek) The outcome indicates that Poland can be expected to take a more nationalist path under its new leader, who was backed by US President Donald Trump. Most day-to-day power in the Polish political system rests with a prime minister chosen by the parliament. However, the president's role is not merely ceremonial. The office holds the power to influence foreign policy and to veto legislation. Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and final term ends on August 6. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in late 2023 at the end of a coalition government that spans a broad ideological divide — so broad that it hasn't been able to fulfil certain of Mr Tusk's electoral promises, such as loosening the restrictive abortion law. But Mr Duda's veto power has been another obstacle. It has prevented Mr Tusk from fulfilling promises to reverse laws that politicised the court system in a way that the European Union declared to be undemocratic. Now it appears Mr Tusk will have no way to fulfil those promises, which he had made both to voters and to the EU. Mr Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, was tapped by the Law and Justice party as part of its push for a fresh start. The party governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it lost power to a centrist coalition led by Mr Tusk. Some political observers predicted the party would never make a comeback, and Mr Nawrocki was chosen as a new face who would not be burned by the scandals of the party's eight years of rule. Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem meets with Poland's conservative presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki (AP/Alex Brandon, Pool) Mr Nawrocki's supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Those who oppose secular trends, including LGBTQ+ visibility, have embraced him, viewing him as a reflection of the traditional values they grew up with. Mr Trump made it clear he wanted Mr Nawrocki as Poland's president. The conservative group Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) held its first meeting in Poland last week to give Mr Nawrocki a boost. Kristi Noem, the US Homeland Security secretary and a prominent ally of Mr Trump, strongly praised Mr Nawrocki and urged Poles to vote for him. The US has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Ms Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Mr Nawrocki as president. A common refrain from Mr Nawrocki's supporters is that he will restore 'normality,' as they believe Mr Trump has done. US flags often appeared at Mr Nawrocki's rallies, and his supporters believed that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration.
Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How Britain's biggest companies are preparing for a Third World War
The year is 2027 and a major global conflict has erupted. Perhaps China has launched an attempted invasion of Taiwan, or Russian forces have crossed into the territory of an eastern European Nato country. Whatever the case, Justin Crump's job is to advise big companies on how to respond. And with tensions rising, a growing number of chief executives have got him on speed dial. The former Army tank commander, who now runs intelligence and security consultancy Sibylline, says his clients range from a top British supermarket chain to Silicon Valley technology giants. They are all drawing up plans to keep running during wartime, and Crump is surprisingly blunt about their reasoning: a global conflict may be just two years away. 'We're in a world which is more dangerous, more volatile than anything we've seen since the Second World War,' he explains. There are lots of crises that can happen, that are ready to go. 'Chief executives want to test against the war scenario, because they think it's credible. They want to make sure their business can get through that environment.' The year of worst case scenarios He rattles off a series of smouldering international issues – any one of which could ignite the global tinderbox – from Iran's nuclear ambitions, to China's threats to Taiwan, to Vladimir Putin's designs on a Russian sphere of influence in Ukraine and beyond, as well as Donald Trump's disdain for the post-1940s 'rules-based international order'. Against this backdrop, planning for war is not alarmist but sensible, Crump contends. With all these issues building, 2027 is viewed as the moment of maximum danger. 'The worst case scenario is that all these crises all overlap in 2027,' he explains. 'You've got the US midterms, which will have taken place just at the start of that year, and whatever happens there will be lots of upset people. It's also the time when a lot of the economic disruption that's happening now will have really washed through the system, so we'll be feeling the effects of that. And it's also too early for the change in defence posture to have really meant anything in Europe.' Putin and Xi Jinping, the president of China, are acutely aware of all this, he says, and may conclude that they should act before the US and Europe are more fully rearmed in 2030. 'In their minds now, the clock is ticking,' he adds. He also points to major British and Nato military exercises scheduled to take place in 2027, with American forces working to a 2027 readiness target as well. 'There's a reason they're doing it that year – because they think we have to be ready by then,' Crump says. 'So why shouldn't businesses also work off the same thinking and plan for the same thing?' He is not alone in arguing that society needs to start expecting the unexpected. In 2020, the Government established the National Preparedness Commission to ensure the UK was 'significantly better prepared' for the likes of floods, power outages, cyber attacks or wars. It has urged households to keep at least three days' worth of food and water stockpiled, along with other essential items such as a wind-up torch, portable power bank, a portable radio, spare batteries, hand sanitiser and a first aid kit. 'In recent years a series of high-impact events have demonstrated how easily our established way of life can be disrupted by major events,' the commission's website says – pointing to the coronavirus pandemic, recent African coups, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and turmoil in the Middle East. Britain is also secretly preparing for a direct military attack by Russia amid fears that it is not ready for war. Officials have been asked to update 20-year-old contingency plans that would put the country on a war footing after threats of attack by the Kremlin. All of this has led major businesses to conclude that perma crisis is the new normal, Crump says. In the case of Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia forced companies to choose between continuing to operate heavily-constrained operations in Russia, selling up, or walking away entirely. Crump recalls speaking to several clients including a major energy company in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He and his colleagues urged the business to evacuate their staff, at a point when it was still received wisdom that Putin wouldn't dare follow through with his threats. 'I had almighty arguments with some people in the run-up, because I was very firmly of the view, based on our data and insights, that the Russians were not only invading, but they were going for the whole country. But other people in our sector were saying, 'No, it's all a bluff'. 'Their team came to me afterwards and said: 'After that call, we were convinced, and we got our people out'. They got a lot of grief for that at the time, from people who were saying it was all nonsense. 'But then on the day of the invasion, they told me they got so many calls actually saying 'thank you for getting us out'.' Yet even in Ukraine, much of which remains an active war zone, life must go on – along with business. 'I've been to plenty of war zones,' says Crump. 'And people are still getting on with their lives, there's still stuff in supermarkets, and things are being made in factories – but that certainly all gets a lot more difficult.' In the case of a major British supermarket, how might executives plan for, say, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan? The first question is how involved the UK expects to be, says Crump. But if Britain, as might be expected, sides with the US at least in diplomatic terms, 'we're not buying anything from China'. That immediately has implications for a company's supply chains – are there any parts of the supply chain that would be crippled without Chinese products? But as the recent cyber attack on Marks & Spencer has demonstrated, attacks on critical digital infrastructure are also a major risk to supermarkets in the event of a war with China or Russia. 'If you look at a retailer, the vulnerability is not necessarily whether or not they can transport stuff to the shop, even in a war zone,' says Crump. 'The problem becomes when you can't operate your systems. 'If you can't take money at the point of sale, or if you have no idea where your stock is because your computer system has been taken down, you've got major problems and you can't operate your business.' Workforce gaps In a scenario where Britain becomes involved in a war itself, Crump says employers may also suddenly find themselves with gaps in their workforces. He believes things would need to get 'very bad indeed' for the Government to impose conscription, which applied to men aged 18-41 during the Second World War. But he points out that the calling up of British armed forces reservists would be very likely, along with the potential mobilisation of what is known as the 'strategic reserve' – those among the country's 1.8 million veterans who are still fit to serve. There are around 32,000 volunteer reservists and an undisclosed number of regular reserves, former regular members of the armed forces who are still liable to be called up. 'There's a big pool of people we don't tap at the moment who are already trained,' explains Crump. 'But there would be consequences if the entire reserve was called forward, which would have to happen if we entered a reasonably sized conflict. It would certainly cause disruptions. 'The medical services are hugely integrated with the NHS, for example, and we saw the effects of them being called forward with Iraq and Afghanistan.' Food supplies The sort of supermarket chaos that erupted during the Covid-19 pandemic would also return with a vengeance if a significant conflict broke out. During that crisis, grocers had to limit how many packs of loo rolls and cans of chopped tomatoes shoppers were allowed to take home, among other items, because of supply chain problems. 'If we're in a conflict, that sort of supply chain activity would increase,' notes Crump. 'So you don't necessarily have rationing imposed, but there might be issues with food production, delivery, payment and getting things to the right place. 'In a world where we don't have our own independent supply chains, we're reliant on a lot of very interconnected moving parts that have been enabled by this period of peace. 'We've never been in a conflict during a time where we've had 'just in time' systems.' Spanish blackouts: A dry run Crump brings up the recent blackouts in Spain and Portugal. British grocers initially thought their food supplies would be completely unaffected because truck loads of tomatoes had already made their way out of the country when the problem struck. But the vehicles were electronically locked, to prevent illegal migrants attempting to clamber inside when they cross the English Channel and could only be unlocked from Spain – where the power cuts had taken down computer systems and telecoms. 'People in Spain couldn't get online, so we had locked trucks full of tomatoes sitting here that we couldn't open because of technology,' Crump says. 'No one had ever thought, 'But what happens if all of Spain goes off the grid?' And I'm sure the answer would have been, 'That'll never happen' anyway.' This tendency towards 'normalcy bias' is what Crump tries to steer his clients away from. While it isn't inevitable that war will break out, or that there will be another pandemic, humans tend to assume that things will revert to whatever the status quo has been in their lifetimes, he says. This can mean we fail to take the threat of unlikely scenarios seriously enough, or use outdated ways of thinking to solve new problems. 'We've had this long period of peace and prosperity. And, of course, business leaders have grown up in that. Military leaders have grown up in it. Politicians have grown up in it. And so it's very hard when that starts to change. 'People have grown up in a world of rules. And I think people are still trying to find ways in which the game is still being played by those old rules.' Unsurprisingly, given his line of work, Crump believes businesses must get more comfortable contemplating the unthinkable. 'Go back a decade and most executives did not want to have a crisis because a crisis is bad for your career, so they didn't want to do a test exercise – because you might fail,' Crump adds. 'But the whole point is that you can fail in an exercise, because it's not real life.'
Scotsman
44 minutes ago
- Scotsman
UK to build up to 12 new attack submarines and invest £15bn in warheads
UK government unveils strategic defence review but opponents question commitment to defence spending of 3 per cent of GDP by 2034 Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The UK will build up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines and invest £15 billion in its warhead programme, the Prime Minister will announce on Monday as the Government unveils its strategic defence review. Significant investment in the UK nuclear warhead programme this parliament and maintaining the existing stockpile are among the 62 recommendations that the Government is expected to accept in full. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But questions were also raised about its commitment to defence spending after the Defence Secretary could not confirm the Treasury had guaranteed funding to bring it up to 3 per cent of GDP by 2034. Defence Secretary John Healey appearing on the BBC1 current affairs programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, ahead of today's publication of the strategic defence review | PA Building the new submarines, which is part of the Aukus partnership with the US and Australia , will support 30,000 highly skilled jobs into the 2030s as well as 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles across the next 10 years, the Ministry of Defence said. Defence Secretary John Healey said: "Our outstanding submariners patrol 24/7 to keep us and our allies safe, but we know that threats are increasing and we must act decisively to face down Russian aggression. "With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly skilled jobs across the country." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The £15 billion investment into the warhead programme will back the Government's commitments to maintain the continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent, build a new fleet of Dreadnought submarines and deliver all future upgrades. From the late 2030s, the fleet of up to 12 SSN-Aukus conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace seven astute class attack submarines the UK is due to start operating. Getting ready for war In response to the strategic defence review, the Government will also commit to: - Getting the armed forces to a stage where it would be ready to fight a war Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad - Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and making sure there is capacity to scale up production if needed in a crisis or war - Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons in a move due to support 800 defence jobs - Setting up a new cyber command and investing £1 billion in digital capabilities - More than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sir Keir Starmer will say: "From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation's freedom and security. "National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country. "This strategic defence review will ensure the UK rises to the challenge and our armed forces have the equipment they need that keeps us safe at home while driving greater opportunity for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future." Opponents question Labour's funding commitment The Conservatives and Lib Dems questioned Labour's commitment to funding the promises it was making. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Government has previously set out its "ambition to reach 3 per cent in the next parliament", after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027 . Mr Healey had said there was "no doubt" the UK would reach 3 per cent in an interview with The Times. But on Sunday, he sidestepped questions about whether he had any guarantee from the Treasury to provide the funding when asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said he does not expect to increase the number of people in the armed forces until the next Parliament amid a recruitment and retention crisis. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Asked when the Army would reach the target of 73,000, Mr Healey said: "We've narrowed the gap, but we've still got more people leaving than joining. "The first job is to reverse that trend and then I want to see in the next parliament our ability to start to increase the number." Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: "All of Labour's Strategic Defence Review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them. "Whereas, far from guaranteeing the funding, John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves . Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit 3 per cent, but today he's completely backtracked. "These submarines are not due to enter service till the late 2030s, so how can we have any confidence Labour will actually deliver them when they can't even sustain a policy on defence spending for more than 48 hours?" Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire said: "This signals absolutely the right intent about the need to bolster the UK's defences in the face of Putin's imperialism and Trump's unreliability. "But this must come with a concrete commitment and detail on full funding. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Labour's mere 'ambition' rather than commitment to reach 3 per cent of GDP on defence leaves serious questions about whether the money for these projects will actually be forthcoming. "The 2034 timeline suggests a worrying lack of urgency from the Government.
