British F-35B Lightning II fighter jets scrambled from the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales to intercept a Russian Tu-142 "Bear-F" maritime patrol aircraft after it made repeated low-altitude approaches near the UK carrier strike group, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.
The incident took place in the Norwegian Sea as HMS Prince of Wales conducted operations under Operation Firecrest in the High North. According to an MoD spokesperson, the Russian Bear-F passed at low altitude and unnecessarily close to the carrier and dropped a large number of sonobuoys in close proximity to the vessel. The ministry condemned the activity as unsafe and unprofessional, and said two UK F-35 jets intercepted and escorted the Russian aircraft until it left the area.
No shots were fired, and the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace throughout the encounter.
HMS Prince of Wales, one of Britain's two Queen Elizabeth class carriers, has been operating in Arctic and High North waters for the past month as part of NATO's broader deterrence posture in the region. The carrier departed Stavanger on June 6 and has since operated in the High North, including inside the Arctic Circle and near Jan Mayen Island. The deployment marks the first time British F-35s have flown NATO air defence missions from a European aircraft carrier, and it coincides with the United Kingdom assuming command of key elements of NATO's high readiness Allied Reaction Force.
The deployment forms part of NATO's Arctic Sentry activity, launched earlier this year to coordinate Allied operations across the Arctic and High North, and serves as the centerpiece of Britain's own Operation Firecrest deployment in the North Atlantic. More than 1,500 British personnel are attached to the task group, which also includes the destroyer HMS Duncan and the support ship RFA Tidespring.
The intercept is the latest in a string of encounters between NATO and Russian aircraft in the High North, where alliance members have stepped up air and naval patrols in response to increased Russian military activity in the region. No further incidents have been reported since the encounter, and British officials say the carrier strike group remains committed to NATO's collective defence mission in the North Atlantic.
