The British Royal Air Force (RAF) has launched a search operation amid reports of a Russian submarine being spotted off the coast of Scotland, the British Ministry of Defense was reported as saying by BBC News.
Canadian and French patrol aircraft are also understood to be involved, along with a British frigate and submarine, the BBC report went on to say.
According to the British Daily Telegraph newspaper, the French plane has been searching for the submarine for at least 10 days.
“We can confirm that allied maritime patrol aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth for a limited period are conducting activity with the Royal Navy,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, adding that it “did not discuss the details of maritime operations,” the BBC reported.
The New York Times wrote on Oct. 25 that Russian submarines and spy ships were “aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications.”
The same Times report added that Russian maritime activity “raised concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict.”