The RAF is providing RC-135 Rivet Joint and P-8 Poseidon MRA1 aircraft from the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Force to assist NATO operation Baltic Sentry.
On Jan. 22, 2025, the British government announced that RAF Rivet Joint and Poseidon aircraft will be deploying to the Baltic Sea to support the United Kingdom’s (UK) Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) partners in securing their Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI). The operation, named Baltic Sentry, will see NATO assets converge in the Gulf of Finland to monitor infrastructure and prevent further sabotage efforts.
This was announced following an escalation in tension between NATO and the Russian Federation, after damage to the Estlink 2 by a tanker that is a part of Russia’s shadow fleet used to circumvent international sanctions, which took place on Dec. 25, 2024. It was also revealed that Russian intelligence vessel ‘Yantar’ had been monitored while loitering over British undersea infrastructure back in November of the same year, which has directly led to British involvement in the NATO mission.
In a statement made to the British Parliament, Defence Secretary John Healey said:
“I wanted President Putin to hear this message: we see you, we know what you’re doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”
He then followed up in a written statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), stating that
“National security is our government’s first duty and a foundation of our Plan for Change. Alongside our Joint Expeditionary Force and NATO allies, we are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near UK or NATO territory.
We will continue to call out the malign activity that Putin directs, cracking down on the Russian shadow fleet to prevent funding for his illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
This has seen multiple measures used by the government to monitor and prevent Russian sabotage on NATO’s undersea infrastructure, including the deployments of warships to directly shadow Russian intelligence vessels and the activation of Nordic Warden on behalf of the JEF.
Nordic Warden is a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess the likelihood that a vessel operating near European CUI poses a threat. Information derived from multiple sources, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that ships use to broadcast their location, helps Nordic Warden to prioritise NATO assets so that they can monitor vessels posing a significant risk to infrastructure, whilst avoiding those that are seen as non-threatening.
This system will likely work closely with RAF Rivet Joint and Poseidon aircraft to prioritise their taskings and avoid unnecessary distractions whilst they participate in Operation Baltic Sentry.
NATO has announced operation BALTIC SENTRY, a large naval deployment into the Gulf of Finland to protect undersea cables and other infrastructure from Russian sabotage.
Baltic Sentry will include the deployment of NATO warships from SNMG1 and SNMCMG1. pic.twitter.com/6bcV32JH8R
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 15, 2025
Estlink 2
Finnish Police believe that on Dec. 25 the Russian vessel Eagle S deployed its anchor near the location of the undersea cables and then dragged it across the seabed, damaging the cables and preventing their use to supply electricity between Estonia and Finland.
A striking image captures Finnish special forces boarding a vessel linked to Russia’s shadow fleet. The ship, identified as the Eagle S, was seized by Finnish authorities, accused of causing damage to undersea power and telecommunications cables.
The incident has sparked outrage… pic.twitter.com/o0nThrRZtr
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 30, 2024
As a result, the vessel was boarded by Finnish Border Guards, Coast Guard and Police units with support from a H215 Super Puma normally used by the Border Guard’s Air Patrol Squadron for aerial surveillance and maritime rescue operations.
The ship was found to be “kitted out with special transmitting and receiving devices that were used to monitor naval activity,” according to a source working closely with the ship during the investigation, which was first reported by Lloyd’s List.
Following the Estlink sabotage, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander ordered the start of Operation Baltic Sentry, a deterrence mission undertaken by both air and naval assets across the JEF and NATO to monitor and prevent Russian sabotage efforts against European infrastructure, which the RAF will now participate in.
RC-135 Rivet Joint (Airseeker)
Originally named Airseeker in RAF service, the RC-135 Rivet Joint is the RAF’s primary signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft, providing near-real time intelligence collection, surveillance and analysis to coalition partners both in the air and on the ground. The three Rivet Joints are flown out of RAF Waddington by No 51 and No 54 squadrons and form an integral part of the RAF’s ISTAR force ,providing significant intelligence output for the service since 2014.
According to the RAF, Rivet Joint’s sensors “soak up” electronic emissions from communications, radars and other systems, which are then analysed on board to identify the target and its geolocation. Intelligence is then fed to the appropriate responder, be they strike aircraft, as was the case during Operation Shader, or other relevant customers for the intelligence.
RAF Lightning and Rivet Joint aircraft recently exercised with @usairforce and @Luftforsvaret over Norway to enable a US Bomber Task Force to successfully strike simulated enemy targets. 🇳🇴🇺🇸#StrongerTogether
Full story 🔗 https://t.co/Ggs2BcEQMD@HQUSAFEAFAF @SHAPE_NATO pic.twitter.com/bwlX8bIvii
— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) December 6, 2024
Originally designed as the Boeing Model 367-80 airliner, it was ordered by the United States Air Force (USAF) to fulfil the aerial refueling role becoming the KC-135 Stratotanker entering service in 1957. Some of these were converted into intelligence gathering aircraft starting in the early 1960s, with a number of variants converted from the KC-135 and C-135 transport aircraft, another derivative of the Model 367-80 airliner.
RC-135 variants have seen USAF service all over the world, providing signals intelligence to aircraft and forces on the ground during the Vietnam war up until the present day, where it remains in service as the RC-135V and RC-135W.
The RAF bought into the program following the retirement of the BAe Nimrod R1, itself a derivative of a 1950s airliner the De Havilland Comet. The Nimrod R1 provided the RAF with signals intelligence during the later years of the Cold War, before being deployed to Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan in the years following. It was originally due to retire in 2010, but its retirement was delayed due to its capabilities being seen as crucial to aid RAF targeting of Gaddaffi’s forces during the 2011 Libya crisis.
In its stead, the RAF bought three KC-135R Stratotankers for conversion to the Rivet Joint platform, entering service in 2014 and being used extensively during Operation Shader, the UK’s response to fighting ISIS. Most recently RAF Rivet Joints have been flying SIGINT patrols around Russia and Ukraine where one aircraft was fired upon in September 2022 prompting it to deploy with Typhoon escort in follow up patrols.
Now these aircraft will be deployed to the Baltic to use their onboard sensors to detect unusual signals emanating from Russian intelligence and shadow fleet ships. These aircraft will provide a key boost to the JEF assets already deployed to the region with its powerful sensors giving NATO the edge in monitoring and deterring nefarious Russian activity.
P-8 Poseidon MRA1
The P-8 Poseidon MRA1 is another airliner derivative, this time stemming from the Boeing 737 Next Generation, which first flew in the 1990s. Originally adopted by the U.S. Navy, the Poseidon has become a world leader in maritime patrol being adopted by Australia, Canada, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea as well as the UK, making it an export success.
In RAF service Poseidon is flown by No 120 and No 201 Squadrons operationally, whilst No 42 Squadron acts as the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for Poseidon and E-7 Wedgetail AEW1, another derivative of the Boeing 737 NG.
Recently a P-8A Poseidon from @RAFLossiemouth tracked a Russian landing ship, the RFN Aleksandr Shabalin, through the English Channel.
More from The Aviationist
The RAF conducts maritime patrolling around the clock to protect our seas and successfully deterring our adversaries remains an RAF priority. pic.twitter.com/Ehujp7VcLV
— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) January 16, 2025
The aircraft carries an APY-10 radar with modes for high-resolution mapping, an acoustic sensor system that includes passive and multi-static sonobuoys, an electro-optical/infra-red turret and onboard electronic support measures (ESM). In RAF service Poseidon uses both the American Mark 54 and the British Sting Ray Mod 1 torpedoes concurrently, with the RAF planning to eventually equip the aircraft with the Sting Ray Mod 2 that is currently in development. However, RAF Poseidon lacks underwing stores normally carried by U.S. Navy aircraft, preventing it from carrying anti-ship missiles, limiting the aircraft to anti-submarine missions.
This search and track equipment alongside the offensive stores does allow Poseidon MRA1 to fulfil their main role in defending the nation’s continuous at sea deterrent (CASD) provided by the Royal Navy’s four Vanguard class nuclear missile submarines.
Like Rivet Joint, Poseidon replaced a variant of the Nimrod, this time the MR2 maritime patrol variant that was retired in 2010, following the Strategic Defence Review. The MR2 had been due to be replaced by an updated Nimrod designated the MRA4, however this was cancelled due to budget overruns, delays in delivery and a large number of defects found in the aircraft’s design. In the 2015 defence review, Poseidon was selected as the overall replacement for the Nimrod, entering service in 2019 with all nine aircraft delivered and operational by 2022.
This aircraft will be able to assist Rivet Joint aircraft in the tracking of Russian surface ships, due to the onboard search radar, but crucially it will also be able to monitor Russian submarines, which pose a hidden threat to CUI. It is suspected by independent naval analyst HI Sutton that Yantar and other ships like it could be providing cover for submarines operated by Russia to get away with their own sabotage and eavesdropping missions against European infrastructure. Whilst this is speculative, the Russian Navy does employ a small fleet of submarines for this purpose, operated within the same intelligence division as Yantar.
***NEW VIDEO***
The Russian government gun runner logistics ship Ursa Major sank under mysterious circumstances on December 23 2024. Now Russia’s specialist deep sea spy ship, Yantar, is now diving over the wreck site. #OSINT
See first reply pic.twitter.com/5yFkZEGq2V
— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) January 17, 2025
RAF Poseidons will provide NATO with important under sea detection capability, in case Russian submarines are acting to endanger CUI around European waters.
Undersea Sabotage
This latest commitment of air assets follows a long period of increasing international tensions in European waters since the sabotage of the Nordstream one and two undersea gas pipelines between Russia and Western Europe back in 2022. Those responsible were never caught and while Russia is now thought of as unlikely to be responsible, it has led to a trend as undersea infrastructure is damaged either accidentally or deliberately.
Two undersea communications cables were reported by German officials to have been sabotaged with a Chinese bulk carrier deemed the responsible party following investigation by the Danish government.
Moreover, it was revealed last week that, during November 2024, a Royal Navy Astute class submarine surfaced next to Yantar which had been found loitering above British underwater infrastructure.
According to the Navy Lookout this action “demonstrates an increasing determination by the government to deter any interference with Critical Undersea Infrastructure.” Nuclear attack submarines almost never surface near a hostile vessel owing to the significant advantage that remaining hidden gives it. To have been ordered to surface sends a clear and deliberate message to the Russian Federation to stay away from British and European infrastructure.
Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary surface ships have also been reported to be tracking the Russian vessel through the English Channel with these including Duke class frigate HMS Somerset and the above RFA Proteus, a ship bought with the mission of monitoring and protecting British CUI in the wake of the Nordstream sabotage.
“We see you, we know what you’re doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country”. @RoyalNavy vessels have been tracking a Russian spy ship in the English Channel just weeks after it was caught loitering over critical undersea infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/rqF4xuB4Yj
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 22, 2025
The deployment of Rivet Joint and Poseidon aircraft is but one part of an all arms response to Russian actions in this grey theatre of war. If Russia is to continue with this type of action, it is to be assured that NATO is watching and waiting.
