Britain's Royal Air Force has joined Nato in a hunt for a Russian submarine suspected of threatening an American aircraft carrier.
Nato allies have deployed 27 sorties to search the Norwegian Sea for the submarine since Sunday, according to The Sun.
RAF Poseidon planes have made several flights from a base in Lossiemouth in Scotland.
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The Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is designed specifically for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, as well as search and rescue missions.
A flight tracking website showed one Poseidon spent several hours hovering over the Norwegian Sea.
The mission - which a defence insider described as a "highly unusual surge" of activity - came as the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group trained with the Norwegian Navy on drills in the North Sea, The Sun reports.
Former Royal Navy submarine commander, Ryan Ramsay, told the newspaper: "This is Nato showing they are in control.
"Either they have already found the submarine, or submarines, and they are holding it, or they haven't got it yet and need to get hold of it."
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The Nato allies are said to be searching for a Russian submarine (file photo)
|GETTY
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed an operation was ongoing but did not reveal any further details.
"The UK’s P-8 Poseidon aircraft work continuously on operations, protecting national interests and keeping the UK and our allies safe", an MOD spokesperson said.
“For security reasons we will not comment on operational details.”
Earlier this year, it was revealed Britain was considering deploying an army of AI-powered underwater drones to hunt Russian submarines in British waters.
It was revealed earlier this year that Britain was considering deploying an army of AI-powered underwater drones to hunt Russian submarines
| GETTYThese autonomous mini-submarines can remain submerged for months at a time.
In a system called Lura, the drones effectively "illuminate" the oceans to simplify submarine detection.
It followed incidents in the Baltic Sea which saw damage to power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with many blamed on Moscow.
The system can reportedly identify differences between submarines, tankers, passenger vessels and members of Russia's shadow fleet.