Royal Navy called out to 33 alerts over Russian warships near UK water last year

The Royal Navy responded to Russian warships approaching UK territorial waters 33 times last year, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said today.

He compared this to just one similar incident in 2010 and warned: “It goes to show the increasing aggression, increasing assertiveness of Russia.”

HMS St Albans, a Type 23 frigate, and three RAF Typhoon jets kept a “close eye” on Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and accompanying ships as they sailed down the English Channel on their way back to Russia from Syria in January last year.

Speaking at a defence conference in London, Mr Williamson said Britain was “rapidly having to come to terms” with a “new age of warfare”.

He added: “Look at Russia’s resurgence under President Putin. Its submarine activity has increase tenfold in the North Atlantic.

“But that’s not all - in 2010 a Royal Navy ship was called on just once to respond to Russian Navy ships approaching UK territorial waters. Last year we had to respond 33 times.”

The Defence Secretary, who was at the Royal United Services Institute in London, also announced that the Sea Ceptor missile system to protect the Navy’s new aircraft carriers had en-tered service. It will be based on the Type 23 frigates and will target airborne threats, including fighter jets, helicopters and other missiles.

Meanwhile, Britain warned Brussels that it risks weakening security in Europe by blocking UK participation in the Galileo satellite navigation system. Ministers are also understood to be demanding that the Brexit “divorce bill” be reopened if the EU freezes Britain out from the project.

Galileo is the EU’s £8 billion rival to the US-developed global positioning system (GPS) which is used by millions of consumer devices worldwide. It was commissioned in 2003 and is due for completion by 2020.

Brussels has said that after Brexit Britain cannot have immediate access to a key encrypted element intended for use by government agencies, armed forces and emergency services. The Government accepts Britain should face some limitations but has issued stark warnings if its planned future involvement is rejected.

A leaked paper, believed to be the Government’s position, says “Current EU restrictions on UK participation will have implications for the ceiling placed on future UK-EU security co-operation ... Should the UK’s future access be restricted, the UK’s past contribution to the financing of space assets should be discussed.”

The Government is threatening to launch a rival to Galileo.

But two EU sources told the Standard that the UK is asking for privileged access to encrypted information that is impossible under existing rules.