Russian spy ship on edge of UK waters uses lasers at RAF pilots, Healey says

According to the defence minister, a Russian spy ship is on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland and has fired lasers at pilots of a surveillance aircraft monitoring its operations. It was the second time in a year that the Yantar had entered UK waters, according to John Healey, speaking at a press conference in Downing Street. Healey told reporters that the ship is

built for gathering intelligence and mapping our undersea cables.

This is my message to Russia and Putin: we see you. We know what you're doing. And if the Yantar flies south this week, we are set," he said.

Healey continued:

It is part of a Russian fleet designed to install and protect our undersea systems and those of our allies' lives.

It isn't just a naval operation. It's part of a Russian program led by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and it's designed to have intelligence capabilities that can detect peacetime and sabotage in conflict.

We've been deterministic, we're safe, we monitor it, we prevent it, and we tell Putin we'd be safe.

This was a demonstration of Britain's capability and readiness to respond, he said. After being found in UK waters, the defence secretary sent a warning in January about the ship. At his Downing Street press conference, he said it was the first time Yantar had used lasers to disrupt RAF pilots in an attempt to injure a RAF Pilot, a deeply risky threat that the UK takes

very seriously. He modified the Royal Navy's code of engagement so that it could follow the Yantar more closely

when it's in our wider waters.

If the Yantar change direction, we have military options open.

I am not going to reveal them because doing so makes President Putin wiser,

he said. A committee of MPs has chastised the Ministry of Defense for being over-reliant on US defense capabilities and not being able to shield the UK and its overseas territories from military attack. According to the committee, the UK and its European allies should be preparing for potential US withdrawal. According to Healey, the UK government

takes a different view

from the committee regarding America's Nato pledge.

Nato's strength is not limited to Europe's defense. It's about America's defense, he told reporters. However, he said the committee was right to say that Britain should pick up the speed of our commitment, and that was something Labour has been doing since it took power last year.

Defence talks ongoing

The paper comes as British negotiators try to reach an agreement with the EU to encourage British defence companies to contribute to projects funded by a new €150 billion (£130 billion) EU defence loan program, which is set to launch next year. The Labour government intends to strike an agreement in the coming weeks to encourage British companies to participate in the first round of EU countries' first round competitions, with applications due by the end of this month. In reports that the two sides are at odds about the entry fee, Healey told reporters that the UK intends to be involved in the scheme but not