A Russian Tu-142 Bear-F maritime patrol aircraft dropped several sonobuoys while flying near the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in the Norwegian Sea while failing to respond to radio calls. The carrier’s F-35Bs intercepted and escorted the aircraft until they separated.
While operating in the Gobuk on 2 July 2026 during Operation Firecrest, the Royal Navy’s flagship attracted the attention of a Tu-142MK (NATO reporting name Bear Foxtrot) maritime patrol aircraft from the Russian Naval Air Service.
The carrier’s two F-35B Lightning jets intercepted and escorted the Bear-F until it left the area. The Russian crew failed to call an international radio frequency while flying close to a Royal Navy-led task group, dropping ‘dozens of sonobuoys’. Images show the behavior continued even as the British jet flew alongside the aircraft.
An official comment from Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) called the Tu-142’s actions “unsafe and unprofessional.”
While operating in the Norwegian Sea under Operation FIRECREST, the British Carrier Strike Group was repeatedly approached by Russian ‘Bear-F’ maritime patrol aircraft.
The aircraft flew unnecessarily close to HMS Prince of Wales and dropped several sonobuoys nearby but failed. pic.twitter.com/LLPgwo2VXA
— Department of Defense 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 6, 2026
Monitoring NATO operations by Russian air, ground and underground assets in the region is not uncommon, but in this case the proximity of the flybys and the active deployment of sonobuoys indicate a more aggressive posture than usual.
Sonobuoys equipped with hydrophones are used to listen for underwater sounds and are commonly used to locate submarines. However, these sonar waves could also be used to gather information about the acoustic profiles of NATO warships, which could provide valuable data to the Russian submarine fleet.
For obvious reasons, there was no word on what happened to these sonobuoys after the Russian aircraft left the area, but it would not be surprising if NATO forces later collected at least a few sonobuoys to eliminate the threat, inspect the devices, learn about their functions, and compare them to other previously captured sonobuoys to see if they had changed.
The case was covered for the first time. PoliticoReport from the aircraft carrier. Also on board was the new British Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis.
Exclusive: Britain intercepted two Russian planes last week after moving aircraft carrier to Arctic Circle in support of NATO mission https://t.co/bB1xvCqSgV
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) July 6, 2026
The Secretary of Defense joined the flagship’s crew to announce that the carrier’s F-35Bs have been assigned to NATO’s air security mission, the first time they have flown this mission while deployed on a ship. This comes just hours before news broke about the activities of Russian aircraft.
“It was an honor to visit deployed personnel conducting operations that help keep our country and our allies safe. We live in increasingly dangerous and uncertain times, and deployments like this, supported by allies and partners, including Iceland, enhance our deterrence and defense capabilities as part of NATO,” Jarvis said.
🎯 Jarvis said it was “mission critical” to provide a funding path for NATO commitments “as soon as possible” in the next spending review.
🏭 He confirmed that the UK has now met one of its two NATO commitments – to spend 1.5% of GDP on security-related resilience.
— Mason Boycott-Owen (@Masonboyowen) July 6, 2026
For air defense sorties, British F-35Bs can carry AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles internally and AIM-132 ASRAAM infrared-guided missiles on external pylons, while other air forces often deploy AIM-9X Sidewinders.
Tu-142, serial RF-34059, bears the name Yuriy Malinin in Cyrillic letters. It is part of a small but significant fleet that serves a role in the Russian arsenal roughly analogous to NATO’s P-8 Poseidon, P-3 Orion and Breguet Atlantic 2. The recent Ukrainian attack on the Taganrog airfield destroyed at least one Tu-142 submarine hunter and a specialized Tu-142MR Bear-J variant used to communicate with submarines.
Historically, the Tu-142 was also operated by India, but was withdrawn in 2017 and India currently operates the P-8 variant, known as the P-8I Neptune.
Operation Firecrest
HMS Prince of Wales began Operation Firecrest in May 2026, escorted by the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and supply ship RFA Tidespring. In initial exercises, the aircraft carrier led the defense against swarm attacks using simulated missiles and fast attack aircraft during Exercise Tambor Shield. The exercise, which took place in the Norwegian fjords, brought together Martlet-armed Wildcat HMA2 helicopters and the expertise of 700X Naval Air Squadron, the Royal Navy’s specialist drone unit.
Attention then focused on the underwater realm during the annual Exercise Dynamic Mongoose. The aircraft carrier joined NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) to get hands-on experience with submarine hunting, a role performed by ultra-quiet diesel-electric submarines from Germany, Norway and Portugal.
we see you HMS Prince of Wales is taking part in exercise Dynamic Mongoose with NATO Maritime Group One. pic.twitter.com/sUsHVBDfQ2
— HMS Prince of Wales (@HMSPWLS) May 22, 2026
The F-35B is the flagship aircraft operated by the Prince of Wales, but the ship also has a Merlin HM2 helicopter. Designed as a specialized anti-submarine (ASW) combat aircraft, the Merlin HM2 can use sonobuoys and/or dipping sonar to locate and identify submarine threats.
The Merlin can operate alongside warships or in an independent capacity and, if necessary, engage detected submarines with Sting Ray torpedoes.
