BRITAIN, America and Norway have launched a serious hunt for a Russian submarine suspected of threatening a US plane provider.
Specialist sub-hunting Poseidon planes have made 27 sorties to scour the Norwegian Sea since Sunday.
AlamyThe UK despatched Boeing P-8 Poseidon jets on eight submarine hunts[/caption]
GettyJets had been scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth, which the King inspected earlier this month[/caption]
The InstancesThe USS Gerald R Ford – an American plane provider – was coaching within the Norwegian Sea[/caption]
The RAF made eight P-8A Poseidon flights from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
The Norwegian Air Pressure launched three from Evenes Air Base close to Narvik, contained in the Arctic Circle.
The US Navy used a base in Iceland however the scale of the operation meant they had been strengthened by at the very least two US Poseidons from Sicily.
The Poseidon maritime patrol plane are armed with a spread of Prime Secret sensors, torpedos, missiles and sonar buoys which they’ll drop into the ocean to hear for the sound of submarines.
A defence supply stated the mission was a “extremely uncommon surge”.
It got here because the USS Gerald R. Ford plane provider strike group skilled with the Norwegian Navy on drills within the North Sea.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed it was an operation not an train however refused to disclose particulars.
Ex-submarine captain Ryan Ramsay stated: “That is Nato exhibiting they’re in management.”
He added: “Both they’ve already discovered the submarine, or submarines, and they’re holding it.
“Or they haven’t bought it but and have to pay money for it.”
HMS Somerset, a specialist sub-hunting frigate, was additionally in Norwegian waters.
Tom Sharpe, a former Navy commander, stated: “It appears like they’ve discovered a Russian submarine and they’re hammering it.
“It’s telling Russia: ‘We see you.’”
Many of the Poseidon plane turned off their transponders – which reveal their areas to different pilots – as they approached the search space.
FlightradarThe RAF launched eight P-8A Poseidon jets from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.[/caption]
FlightradarThis RAF jet flew circles over the Norwegian sea, round 60 miles west of the Lofoten Islands[/caption]
However flight monitoring web sites confirmed an RAF Poseidon spent hours circling over the Norwegian Sea, some 60 miles west of the Lofoten Islands the place the seabed drops a thousand metres.
The mission seems to have began round 7pm on Sunday and lasted virtually 48 hours.
An MOD spokesperson stated: “The UK’s P-8 Poseidon plane work repeatedly on operations, defending nationwide pursuits and retaining the UK and our allies protected.
“For safety causes we is not going to touch upon operational particulars.”