A Royal Navy warship collided with a Russian hunter-killer submarine within the icy waters of the north Atlantic in what’s believed to be the primary collision between Russian and British vessels because the Chilly Battle.
The Russian submarine was lurking underneath the waters 200 miles north of Scotland when the crew of HMS Northumberland was dispatched to hunt it down.
The Royal Navy’s Sort 23 frigate sailed into the area the place the sub was believed to be hiding and deployed its array sonar – a cable lined in hydrophones pulled alongside behind the hull – to pay attention for sounds from the sub.
However in what a navy supply has described as a ‘million-to-one probability occasion’, the submarine was straight beneath the British vessel and smashed into the sonar cable.
The collision did appreciable harm to the HMS Northumberland’s sonar gadget which was raked throughout the Russian sub’s hull, forcing the British crew to abort their mission and return to base for repairs.
A handout image offered by the British Ministry of Defence exhibits the HMS Northumberland (entrance) monitoring the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov because it sails north-west of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, in December 2020
The Russian submarine was lurking underneath the waters 200 miles north of Scotland when the crew of HMS Northumberland was dispatched to hunt it down (pictured: a Russian Akula class submarine)
The collision, which befell in ‘late 2020’ in accordance with an Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesman, got here amid a interval of tense close-calls between British and Russian ships.
The Royal Navy reported it had shadowed a complete of 9 Russian warships across the UK within the house of simply two weeks within the run as much as December 2020.
A Navy supply advised the Solar of the collision: ‘[The sonar device] was badly chewed up and unusable.
‘The crew of the submarine would have sh*t themselves,’ he stated, earlier than including that the submarine would’ve additionally probably incurred harm on account of the crash.
Tom Sharpe OBE, the previous commanding officer of Royal Navy warship HMS St Albans, stated: ‘The query is, was it deliberate or was it an accident?
‘Ship and submarine detection is just not an actual science. It may have been an in depth cross gone unsuitable.’
An MOD spokesman stated: ‘In late 2020 a Russian submarine being tracked by HMS Northumberland got here into contact together with her towed array sonar.
‘The Royal Navy recurrently tracks overseas ships and submarines so as to make sure the defence of the UK.’
The Russian embassy in London declined to remark.
The information of the seaborne collision comes as Russia continues to bulk up its army capabilities amid rising tensions in jap Europe.
Vladimir Putin declared Russia’s ongoing programme to improve its army energy had seen a profitable test-firing of a number of Zircon hypersonic missiles in December
Russia at the moment has as much as 100,000 troops stationed alongside the Ukrainian border amid warnings from the Pentagon that an invasion may happen inside weeks.
Only one week in the past, Russian state media introduced that the army had efficiently deployed a brand new missile designed to shoot down nukes and satellites in house.
The S-550 missile defence system is considered Russia’s newest foray into the house arms race – designed to take out targets lots of of miles above earth equivalent to low-orbit satellites, nuclear warheads, and orbital hypersonic weapons.
Moscow is believed to have carried out a take a look at of this weapon system final month when it blew up certainly one of its personal defunct spy satellites in a transfer that enraged Washington and ramped up tensions with NATO.
The take a look at got here simply weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the profitable test-firing of a salvo of recent era hypersonic missiles.
Russia’s top-secret S-550 ‘star wars’ missile system has entered energetic service, defence sources have stated, after various rumoured assessments (pictured)
As world powers race to develop superior weaponry, Russia has carried out various profitable assessments of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. Pictured: An take a look at of Russia’s Zircon missile in November
The ‘Zircon’ missiles are being developed as a part of an ongoing programme of improvement in Russia focused at upgrading the jap superpower’s army capabilities.
The take a look at, which noticed a salvo of Zircon missiles launched ‘efficiently and immaculately’ final month, was described by Putin as ‘a giant occasion within the lifetime of the nation and a substantial step in strengthening Russia’s safety and bettering its defence functionality.’
The Zircon missiles are set to enter use with Russia’s navy later this yr, and may be fired from various Russia’s submarines – a risk demonstrated final November with one other profitable seaborne launch.