‘We see you’: Russian spy ship on edge of UK waters directed lasers at RAF pilots, defence secretary says
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The defence secretary has issued a stark warning to Vladimir Putin after a Russian spy ship operating on the edge of UK waters directed lasers at RAF pilots.
John Healey said the Russian spy ship Yantar was operating north of Scotland and had directed lasers at pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities.
He told a Westminster press conference: “My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”
The pilots have been monitoring the ship’s activities.
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UK forces have been closely monitoring Russian vessels, including the spy ship Yantar (PA Media)
It is the second time in a year that the ship, which Mr Healey said was “designed to put … our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk” has entered UK waters.
He said: “It is part of a Russian fleet. It isn’t just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian programme driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.“
That was why, he said, whenever the Yantar comes into British wider waters “we track it, we deter it and we say to Putin we are ready, and we do that alongside allies.“
He added: “It is a demonstration, if you like, of a British readiness to act, a British capability to act, because, make no mistake, we will not tolerate a threat to the British people’s essential connections under water.”
He also warned UK “must step up” in a “new era of hard power”, saying “our world is less predictable, it is more dangerous” as he pointed to the Israel-Iran war in the Middle East and armed conflict which broke out earlier this year between India and Pakistan, as well as Chinese spies targeting MPs.
In the last year, he said, Europe’s skies had been “plagued by drone disruptions”, while Russian incursions into Nato airspace had doubled and there have been 90,000 cyber attacks on the UK defence system alone.
His warning to Russia came as a damning new report by MPs warned that Britain is not ready to defend itself from a major attack.
The Commons Defence Committee issued a stark message about the UK’s ability to fight a war and meet its Nato obligations in the wake of Putin’s war in Ukraine, saying Britain does not currently have a plan to protect itself.
The warning came as Mr Healey announced plans to ramp up the UK’s production of munitions and military explosives, with at least 13 sites across the UK having been identified for new factories.
In his speech he said the “new era of threat” presents an economic opportunity with at least 1,000 new jobs to be created, with the arms industry expected to break ground at the first plant next year.
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Britain has warned Putin ‘we see you’ (AP)
The parliamentary committee’s stark report warned that “the UK lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories”, as they called for the public to be given more information about the scale of the threat and the response that is required.
The committee’s chair, Labour’s Tan Dhesi, said: “Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, unrelenting disinformation campaigns, and repeated incursions into European airspace mean that we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.”
He added: “We have repeatedly heard concerns about the UK’s ability to defend itself from attack. Government must be willing to grasp the nettle and prioritise homeland defence and resilience.
“In achieving this, government cannot shy away from direct engagement with the public.
“Wars aren’t won just by generals but by the whole of the population getting behind the armed forces and playing our part.
“There needs to be a coordinated effort to communicate with the public on the level of threat we face and what to expect in the event of conflict.”
While armed forces minister Luke Pollard insisted that the UK is “safe”, he admitted the country is “facing new threats”.
Speaking to Sky News after the report’s publication, he said: “We are safe, but we are facing new threats. Both of those can be true at the same time.”
He added: “What we’ve got here is the men and women of our armed forces being able to defend against threats, but we need to increase the amount of abilities they have, the capabilities to bring on the new technologies that help them do so, because we know that our adversaries are investing in new technologies.
“We can see the way that war is now being fought differently in Ukraine than perhaps we had prepared for in the past.”
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Armed forces minister Luke Pollard insisted the UK is ‘safe’ but is facing new threats (PA)
Mr Healey confirmed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has funded a number of feasibility studies for new energetics factories – producing explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants – to kickstart high-volume production in the UK for the first time in nearly two decades.
Potential sites for the “factories of the future” include Grangemouth in Scotland, Teesside in northeast England and Milford Haven in Wales.
Mr Healey said: “For too long our proud industrial heartlands saw jobs go away and not come back. We are changing that. Bringing new hope. This is a fundamental shift from the failed approach of the past.
“This is a new era of threat but the opportunity of this new era is a defence dividend from our record investment, measured in good jobs, thriving businesses, new skills for the British people.”
In June, the MoD committed £1.5bn of additional defence investment for energetics and munitions.
The government is committed to building at least six new munitions and energetics factories before the next election, creating at least 1,000 jobs.
Mr Healey also announced the opening of two new drone factories this week in Plymouth and Swindon.
“We are making defence an engine for growth, unambiguously backing British jobs and British skills as we make the UK better ready to fight and better able to deter future conflicts.
“This is the path that delivers national and economic security.”
Mr Healey also said that, at next week’s Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves will ensure there will be no return to the “hollowed out and underfunded” armed forces of the past.
Ahead of the defence secretary’s speech, Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Berlin to discuss defence and security issues over dinner with German chancellor Friedrich Merz and French president Emmanuel Macron.
The dinner came as negotiations over Britain’s participation in a €150bn (£132bn) European defence fund continue, with The Times reporting that the government was considering walking away from the talks over French demands that the UK pay £5bn to the EU to take part.
