P-8A Poseidon makes first-ever North Pole flyover
A Royal Air Force P-8A Poseidon from 42 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron has completed the first-ever North Pole flyover by the aircraft type after departing from Evenes Air Base in northern Norway.
The milestone flight came as the Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales was approached by Russian military aircraft in the Norwegian Sea in what the UK Ministry of Defence described as an "unsafe and unprofessional" manoeuvre late last week.
The Royal Air Force described the flight over the North Pole as a "milestone", demonstrating the aircraft's "capability and operational reach".
The P-8A Poseidon is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Similar aircraft are operated by both the Royal Norwegian Air Force and the United States Navy to monitor Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea.
The RAF is currently deploying one P-8A Poseidon to Evenes Air Base, north of the Arctic Circle, where Norway's fleet of five P-8 aircraft is based.
The North Pole mission formed part of Exercise Midnight Warrior.
"This exercise proved the Royal Air Force's ability to project power and maintain situational awareness in one of the world's most challenging theatres," said Flight Lieutenant Lee, one of the crew members.
The flight from Evenes followed the so-called Bear Gap, the strategically important Arctic maritime corridor linking the shallow Barents Sea with the much deeper Norwegian Sea. The route took the aircraft from mainland Norway via Bear Island to Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago.
The ice-covered waters north of Svalbard are also strategically significant for Russia's submarine fleet, offering an area where submarines can operate beneath the sea ice, making them more difficult for NATO forces to detect and track.
"Unsafe and unprofessional"
Further west, HMS Prince of Wales has spent the past month operating in the Norwegian Sea, sailing between northern Norway, Iceland and the remote island of Jan Mayen.
During the deployment, a pair of Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft from Russia's Northern Fleet repeatedly approached the British carrier strike group, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The ministry described the encounters, which took place late last week, as "unsafe and unprofessional".
"The aircraft flew unnecessarily close to HMS Prince of Wales, dropped multiple sonobuoys nearby, and failed to respond on international safety frequencies," the Ministry of Defence said in a Facebook update on Monday.
Such underwater acoustic sensors are used to detect and track submarines.
Newspaper Politico was first to report about the incident.
F-35 Lightning II fighter jets operating from the carrier were launched to intercept the Tu-142 aircraft until it left the area and returned back to the Kola Peninsula.
