Britain’s brand new £300 million spy plane scrambled to hunt Russian warship in North Sea on first ever mission
BRITAIN’S new £300million spy plane has launched its first operational mission to hunt a Russian warship in the North Sea.
The Poseidon P-8 maritime patrol aircraft shadowed President Putin’s missile ship as she probed British waters on Monday.
The plane – a modified Boeing 737 jet – was armed with torpedoes and escorted by a pair of RAF Typhoon fighter jets.
The P-8’s main role is hunting submarines but she was scrambled on Monday to track the Vasily Bykov, a cutting edge Russian patrol ship, as she sailed through the North Sea.
The aircraft was scrambled from RAF Kinloss and conducted a “a prolonged overwatch of the Russian warship,” the Ministry of Defence said.
The plane is stacked with radars, classified sensors and sonar buoys, which it can drop into the water to ping hidden submarines.
Defence minister Baroness Goldie said the P-8’s mission showed the UK could “defend its waters from any incursion.”
“In an increasingly unstable world of persistent challenge and competition, it is important that the UK Armed Forces possess cutting edge technology to meet threats wherever they emerge,” she added.
The Vasily Bykov was among scores of Russian warships that gathered near St Petersburg for an annual Naval day parade last month.
The 100m long vessel is armed with torpedoes, Kalibr-NK anti-ship missiles and Buk Anti-Aircraft missiles.
She was part of a small flotilla of four Russian warships, including the sub-hunting destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, that were escorted through the Channel by HMS Tyne and Severn on their way to the parade.
Britain has ordered nine P-8 aircraft from America as part of a £3billion programme to replace the Nimrod patrol aircraft that were axed as part of the 2010 defence review.
Only two have arrived so far and they are based at RAF Kinloss while RAF Lossiemouth is undergoing a £470million refurbishment.
Air Vice Marshal Ian Duguid said: “This mission by the Poseidon, to monitor Russian naval activity, shows how the RAF will now be able to contribute to maritime security alongside the Royal Navy and our NATO allies, to secure the seas and skies.”
An RAF Voyager, which was recently given £1million paint job so it can carry Boris Johnson on state visits, was also scrambled as part of the surveillance mission to provide air to air refuelling over the North Sea.
Naval sources have warned that Russian submarine activity is as high as it has been since the end of the Cold War.
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Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, head of the RAF, said the P-8 surveillance planes were Britain’s “response to increasing Russian adventurism across mainland Europe and the North Atlantic and stretching up into the high Arctic”.
Defence sources said Russia has developed under water drones which can cut vital undersea communication cables, making the job of monitoring their submarines vital to national security.
Russia was accused of triggering a new arms race by test-firing a space based weapon from a satellite two weeks ago.
