Royal Navy warship HMS Trent and a Wildcat helicopter have shadowed a Russian destroyer through UK waters.
During a five-day operation, the Portsmouth-based offshore patrol vessel tracked a Russian destroyer and two tankers as they traversed the English Channel.
The Royal Navy has described the operation as “part of the government’s ongoing commitment to safeguard the integrity of UK waters and protecting national security through the government’s Plan for Change.”
HMS Trent, which is back in the UK for the first time in four years following operations in the Mediterranean and off West Africa, and a maintenance period in Malta, is now working up to deploy to the Caribbean.
The vessel started shadowing the Russian destroyer off Great Yarmouth, keeping a close eye on her movements as she moved westward through the Channel towards Ushant.
At the same time, a NATO ally shadowed the two tankers as they made their transit from the west to join the Russian destroyer.
The operation intensified when the Russian destroyer and the tankers eventually met off the island of Ushant, off the tip of the Brittany peninsula, linking up and turning eastwards through the Channel – followed all the way by HMS Trent.
Meanwhile, a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron, based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, later joined the operation in a bid to provide air support.
The helicopter was also able to monitor the Russians’ movements with its impressive suite of sensors.
