A Russian Tu-142MK anti-submarine aircraft dropped sonobuoys in the vicinity of the British HMS Prince of Wales carrier group in the Norwegian Sea, after which the UK scrambled F-35B deck-based fighters to escort the aerial target. The British Ministry of Defence stated that the actions of the Russian crew were "unsafe and unprofessional".
The incident occurred during the British naval exercise Operation FIRECREST. According to London, the Tu-142MK approached the aircraft carrier's area, performing an anti-submarine mission, and conducted an operation using sonobuoys.
To control the situation, the British carrier group deployed fifth-generation F-35B fighters, which escorted the Russian aircraft.
Tu-142MK is a further development of the Soviet Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft and is designed to search for and detect submarines at long distances. One of the main elements of its Korshun-K search and targeting system is sonobuoys, which allow the crew to obtain information about the underwater environment.
The buoys dropped from the aircraft operate as a distributed surveillance system: they receive acoustic signals in the sea and transmit data for analysis to the anti-submarine aircraft crew.
HMS Prince of Wales is one of two British Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, capable of operating F-35B deck-based aircraft with short takeoff and vertical landing. During Operation FIRECREST, the ship operated as part of a carrier group, practicing tasks in northern maritime areas.
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