A Merlin helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron and RFA tanker Tidesurge followed the Russian submarine Krasnodar (Picture: Royal Navy)
By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
LONDON, UK – The Royal Navy has executed a high-stakes surveillance operation, successfully tracking a Russian submarine through the English Channel, even as the NATO Secretary General issued a stark warning that “conflict is at our door.”
The operation saw the Kilo-class Russian submarine Krasnodar and its accompanying tugboat, Altay, shadowed as they sailed westward from the North Sea into the strategic English Channel. The task was carried out by a specialist Merlin helicopter from the 814 Naval Air Squadron, operating from the deck of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) tanker Tidesurge.
The UK government notes that this engagement comes amid a claimed 30% increase in Moscow’s vessels threatening UK waters over the past two years.
The naval action coincided with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s urgent address in Berlin, where he warned member nations against complacency regarding Russian intent. Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, stressed that member nations must drastically improve their defense efforts, or face a war “on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”
“We are Russia’s next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent… The time for action is now,” Mr. Rutte declared at the Munich Security Conference’s ‘MSC in Berlin’ event, adding that he believes the Kremlin could be ready to use military force against NATO within the next five years. “Conflict is at our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. And we must be prepared.”
Despite sailing on the surface through rough weather caused by Storm Bram, the Russian submarine remained under constant scrutiny. While the Merlin helicopter remained grounded on the RFA Tidesurge, its expert aircrew from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose were prepared to pivot instantly to complex anti-submarine operations if the Krasnodar had attempted to dive.
“There is nothing like a Russian submarine to focus the mind for any mariner,” commented Captain James Allen, RFA Tidesurge’s Commanding Officer, adding that the joint operation was executed “as a show of presence and deterrence.”
The Royal Navy maintained its trace on the vessels until they reached the northwest of France, near the island of Ushant, at which point the shadowing task was formally handed over to an undisclosed NATO ally. As Lieutenant Commander David Emergy, 814 Naval Air Squadron’s Atlantic Flight Flight Commander, affirmed, “Maintaining an overt presence and continued overwatch of Russian vessels in UK waters is vital for national security.”
The operation reinforces the recent Lunna House Agreement signed between the UK and Norway, committing the two nations to increased cooperation in countering Russian undersea threats.