Russian submarine activity in North Atlantic has increased tenfold in recent years, according to UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson, who has warned several times of Moscow’s increasing underwater ambitions.
During an address to the Royal United Service Institute’s conference on sea warfare, where he announced that a missile-defense system for the UK’s two aircraft carriers had entered service, Williamson warned that Britain is “rapidly having to come to terms with this new age of warfare,” citing Russian submarine activity specifically.
“Look at Russia’s resurgence under President Putin. Its submarine activity has increased tenfold in the North Atlantic,” he said, according to the Evening Standard. “But that’s not all — in 2010 a Royal Navy ship was called on just once to respond to Russian Navy ships approaching UK territorial waters. Last year we had to respond 33 times.”
That “goes to show the increasing aggression, increasing assertiveness of Russia,” he said, according to The Guardian.