The Royal Navy marks the Yantar as it sails up the Channel

“My message to President Putin is clear. We know what you are doing and we will not hesitate to take strong action to protect Britain.” This was declared on January 22 by Defense Secretary John Healey, following a new passage of the Yantar off the British coast. The Royal Navy was tasked with ensuring close surveillance of the vessel throughout its journey up the Channel. The Yantar, which had crossed the Strait of Pas-de-Calais the day before, on January 21, belongs to the Russian Northern Fleet and is based in Severomorsk, near Murmansk. It has evolved in recent weeks in the Mediterranean, where it was tracked by NATO resources, including a French maritime patrol plane Atlantique 2. Then, after a stopover in Algiers, from where it left on January 14, he returned to the Atlantic and therefore headed towards the English Channel then the North Sea. Throughout his journey, he was watched like milk on fire by the various allied countries in the area, including obviously France, which then handed over to the British. And it will be the same in Northern Europe, until Yantar returns home.

Caught in November above underwater installations in British waters

Described as a “spy ship” by the British, the Yantar is particularly monitored because of its underwater intervention capabilities. This, at a time when the Allies feared the sabotage of underwater infrastructure, particularly underwater cables. -marine electrical and telecommunications. Commissioned in 2015, this building, 108 meters long and 5,700 tonnes fully loaded, is equipped with numerous sensors and can deploy drones and underwater robots. It is clearly considered a threat by Westerners, the United Kingdom being all the more sensitive to its presence since an incident occurred with this boat in November. The Yantar had then, according to the British Ministry of Defense (MoD), “been caught prowling over critical underwater infrastructure in British waters”.

Show of force with a submarine and the RFA Proteus

Given the threats weighing on submarine cables and the incidents that occurred this winter in the Baltic, whether accidents or sabotage, London had decided to react energetically to the presence of the Russian vessel. “A Royal Navy submarine surfaced near the Yantar, to warn the Russian ship that it was secretly monitoring its every move.” The British fleet also, on this occasion, dispatched its new underwater intervention vessel, the RFA Proteus, a former offshore works vessel converted for seabed surveillance and, in particular, the deployment of robotic resources. A very valuable platform, which the French navy currently lacks, for monitoring underwater installations and carrying out interventions at great depths if necessary. Or, in this case, deploy devices to characterize the activities carried out below the water surface by an opposing vessel.

In November, the RFA Proteus positioned itself in front of the Yantar, signaling it to leave while preventing possible attempts at operations carried out discreetly under the surface of the water. “In response to the Royal Navy's warning in November, the Yantar left British waters for the Mediterranean but returned this week, sailing across the English Channel.” This time, he found himself flanked by the frigate HMS Somerset, which we note was sporting its brand new NSM anti-ship missiles. The Royal Navy ship deliberately followed it very closely, until it moved away from British waters.

Royal Air Force to send P-8 Poseidon to Baltic

On this occasion, the MoD also announced that the Royal Air Force would deploy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to participate in the Baltic Sentry mission. This was launched in mid-January, during a summit of eight NATO nations, to protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea following the damage caused to the Estlink2 cable between Estonia and the Finland.

Nordic Warden, a new monitoring and alert system

The United Kingdom has also activated “Nordic Warden”, a new computer system using artificial intelligence to help monitor the Russian ghost fleet and protect offshore underwater infrastructure. The MoD explains that Nordic Warden “was first activated last month to monitor key areas of interest, drawing on a range of data sources to assess the risk that different vessels pose to infrastructure. When the system detects a potential threat, it generates an alert that can be sent to our partners to alert them. Nordic Warden also monitors ships known to be part of Putin's shadow fleet of ships used to try to circumvent international sanctions – and help finance Russia's illegal war in Ukraine – by transporting Russian oil and gas to potential buyers.

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