Yesterday, the Russian spy ship Yantar was positioned over some underwater cables off the Isle of Man. The Russians call this ship a research vessel, but it isn’t. It’s part of their secret, well-funded Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research – aka GUGI – which specialises in underwater surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations, or spying as it’s often known.
And GUGI were operating as bold as brass, in broad daylight, right in the middle of the Irish Sea. The good news is that this ship and the group she was with had been tracked for days by various nations. British frigate HMS Iron Duke was assigned to escort Russian frigate Golovko through the English Channel earlier this week before peeling off to monitor the Yantar. HMS Cattistock, a minehunter, kept tabs on the spy ship whilst the frigate was on route. Our aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and RFA Proteus, our own seabed surveillance ship, are also in the Irish Sea although it’s not clear if they were involved with the Yantar this time.
Soon enough, sharp-eyed open-source intelligence spotters clocked that something was going on. An RAF P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol plane flying a tight racetrack off the northern tip of the Isle of Man was the first clue: in “peacetime” a P-8 will keep its ADS transponder switched on, meaning it can be identified and tracked by the various flight scanning websites.
Yesterday, the Russian spy ship Yantar was positioned over some underwater cables off the Isle of Man. The Russians call this ship a research vessel, but it isn’t. It’s part of their secret, well-funded Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research – aka GUGI – which specialises in underwater surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations, or spying as it’s often known.
And GUGI were operating as bold as brass, in broad daylight, right in the middle of the Irish Sea. The good news is that this ship and the group she was with had been tracked for days by various nations. British frigate HMS Iron Duke was assigned to escort Russian frigate Golovko through the English Channel earlier this week before peeling off to monitor the Yantar. HMS Cattistock, a minehunter, kept tabs on the spy ship whilst the frigate was on route. Our aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and RFA Proteus, our own seabed surveillance ship, are also in the Irish Sea although it’s not clear if they were involved with the Yantar this time.
Soon enough, sharp-eyed open-source intelligence spotters clocked that something was going on. An RAF P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol plane flying a tight racetrack off the northern tip of the Isle of Man was the first clue: in “peacetime” a P-8 will keep its ADS transponder switched on, meaning it can be identified and tracked by the various flight scanning websites.