A Royal Navy warship has tracked a Russian frigate off the coast of France and monitored her movement through the English Channel.
HMS Argyll, a Type 23 frigate fitted with advanced Artisan radar, used her Lynx helicopter and sensors to locate and monitor the movement of the Russian warship as she returned from a Mediterranean deployment.
Under the NATO agreement whereby alliance nations co-operate to monitor activity, the Royal Navy took over from French surveillance and sent the Fleet Ready Escort, a warship maintained at high-readiness for tasks in UK waters.
The Russian warship Yaroslav Mudryy is a Neustrashimy class frigate and was sailing with her accompanying tanker, the Kola.
Commander Paul Hammond, Commanding Officer of HMS Argyll, said: “We are one of the Royal Navy’s high readiness ships and we knew we could be called upon to respond a range of duties, such as monitoring a Russian warship, at short notice.
“The vast majority of the ship’s company, myself included, returned from a highly successful Atlantic Patrol Task (North) deployment just before Christmas.
“To be ready to undertake this duty after a short period of leave and maintenance is a testimony to their hard work and the capability of this ship.”
Based in Plymouth, HMS Argyll is the longest-serving Type 23 frigate in the Royal Navy.
She has recently completed a very successful deployment to the Caribbean and North Atlantic on Atlantic Patrol Task (North).
During that deployment she successful seized £77million of drugs, assisted Bermuda following Hurricane Gonzalo and hosted a Royal visit.