Britain left reliant on allies to track Russian spy craft

BRITAIN is being forced to call on France and other Nato allies to defend British waters against Russian spying operations, it has emerged.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) says 20 per cent of the foreign aircraft stationed in Scotland carry out operations over British waters, with the remaining 80 per cent involved in exercises and training which include readying British pilots for the arrival of new P8 aeroplanes.

It is understood that American, Canadian and French aircraft patrolled off- shore following reports of suspicious vessels in British waters. The number of foreign maritime patrol aircraft stationed in the UK has risen by 76 per cent in a year according to MOD records.

Nato allies were stationed at RAF Lossiemouth 37 times last year to guard against foreign ships and submarines and carry out training exercises, a significant increase on the previous year when extra forces were deployed to the base 21 times.

The Armed Forces do not have patrol aircraft of their own after Nimrod was

scrapped in 2010 and Russian attempts to spy on the UK’S nuclear deterrent have increased, military experts and Labour’s shadow defence secretary have warned.

The RAF has invested £3billion in nine new P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft which will be ready in 2020.

Sir Gerald Howarth, the defence minister at the time when Nimrod was scrapped, said: “I made no secret of the fact it was a very dangerous decision that left us exposed.”

Senior military figures have warned that the continued gap in capability is leaving the UK at risk because Russia has stepped up its efforts to map out British military secrets, including Trident’s acoustic signature.

Admiral Lord West told The Daily Telegraph: “There has been an increase in the amount of Russian interference in our waters and that interference generally is in our ballistic missile submarine, Trident. They are trying to obtain Trident’s acoustic signature.”

He said that the reliance on Nato forces was “part of a wider picture of the hollowing out of our defence”, adding: “Its all very well saying we’ve got the P8 coming and we will be building ships in the future – but that’s only three – we need far more than that.”