The Russian sub was spotted more than a week ago, with The Telegraph newspaper writing that there are fears it might be trying to spy on the UK’s Trident missile program and its related submarines.
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A French spy plane has been scouring the seas off Scotland for 10 days since the sub was first detected, while an Canadian aircraft also called in to aid the search over the weekend. However, it has proved to be so hard to locate, London has had to plead for another Atlantique aircraft and a plane from Canada to join the search for the Russian vessel, according to the Daily Telegraph.
One of the commitments is to buy nine Boeing P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft which will be capable of hunting submarines.
An MoD spokesman said: “We can confirm that allied maritime patrol aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth for a limited period are conducting activity with the Royal Navy”.
The latest operation is the third time in only a year Britain has called on its allies to hunt for a Russian submarine in the area.
Britain requested the help because it no longer has submarine-hunting aircraft after the programme was scrapped in the 2010 defence review to save money.
With North Atlantic Treaty Organisation warning the trend of Russian submarine patrols rising by half in the past year, the need for an island nation such as the United Kingdom to have this capability is paramount. Using RAF bases across the country, USA and British forces conducted long-range patrols with radar-mounted aircraft that were able to hit U-boats cruising on the surface before they had a chance to submerge.
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Later in the year, Sweden discovered what it thought might be the wreckage of a modern Russian submarine, only to find that it probably dated from WWI.
