A Russian spy ship off British waters has used a laser for the first time to disrupt RAF pilots monitoring their activities, the Defense Secretary has said.
John Healey told a press conference in Downing Street that the government was taking the “extremely dangerous” move “extremely seriously”.
They said the ship, named Yantar, was north of Scotland and had entered British waters for the second time this year in the past few weeks.
The ship is “designed to gather intelligence and map our undersea cables,” Healy told reporters.
He said, “My message to Russia and Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if Yantar goes south this week, we’re ready.”
Giving more details about the ship, Haley said: “It is part of the Russian fleet designed to threaten our undersea infrastructure and our allies.
“This is not just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian program they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and it’s designed to have capabilities that can do surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.
“That’s why we are determined, whenever Yantar comes into British waters, we track it, we intercept it and we tell Putin we are ready, and we do that with allies.”
He said it was a demonstration of Britain’s capability and “readiness to act”.
The Defense Secretary issued a warning about the ship in January after it was spotted in British waters.
At his Downing Street press conference, he said it was the first time that Yantar had used a laser in an attempt to “disrupt” RAF pilots, which he described as “extremely dangerous” and was taken “very seriously” by the UK.
He said he had changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so it could follow Yantar more closely “when it is in our wider waters”.
“We have military options ready in case Yantar changes course. I’m not going to reveal them because that would only make President Putin wise,” he said.
The Defense Ministry has faced criticism from a committee of MPs for being overly dependent on US defense resources and being unprepared to defend Britain and its overseas territories from military attack.
The committee said the UK and its European allies should build their capabilities to prepare for a possible US withdrawal.
Healey said the UK government “brings a different view” to the committee regarding the US commitment to NATO.
“NATO’s strength is not just about defending Europe. It is also about defending America,” he told reporters.
But he said the committee is “right to say” that Britain must “step up the pace of our commitment” and that is something Labor has been doing since coming to power last year.
The report comes as British negotiators race to agree a deal with the EU to allow British defense companies to contribute to projects funded by a new €150bn (£130bn) EU defense loan scheme starting next year.
The Labor government wants to strike a deal in the coming weeks to allow British companies to take part in the first round of bids from EU countries, with applications due by the end of this month.
Healey told reporters that Britain wanted to be part of the program but not “at any cost”, amid reports that the two sides were at odds over the entry fees Britain would have to pay to enable British companies to take part.
He said any financial contribution to participate must be “good value for money for our taxpayers and our industry”.