The Royal Navy spent 17 days shadowing Russian vessels near the United Kingdom this autumn, using helicopters, a destroyer and an offshore patrol ship to watch a Russian intelligence ship off a NATO exercise and Russian warships escorting sanctioned cargo through the English Channel, the navy said in a Nov. 2 announcement.Three separate operations ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14, drawing on Merlin Mk2 and Wildcat helicopters and two surface ships, HMS Dauntless and HMS Tyne. The Royal Navy described them as a demonstration of its ability to protect British maritime approaches and contribute to NATO defense.Operation IceblastThe helicopter mission, Operation Iceblast, ran Sept. 29 to Oct. 8. Four Merlin Mk2 helicopters and about 90 sailors from 814 and 824 Naval Air Squadrons deployed at short notice from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall to HMS Gannet at Prestwick.From there, crews used the helicopters’ maritime surveillance sensors to keep tabs on Viktor Leonov, a Russian Vishnya-class intelligence-gathering ship, in waters near the Outer Hebrides northwest of Scotland. The ship was watching NATO warships taking part in Exercise Strike Warrior, which involved more than 2,000 personnel from six allied nations.Merlins are built mainly for anti-submarine warfare, but they also offer strong maritime reconnaissance. Crews on the same deployment also watched the arrival of the Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Agamemnon at HM Naval Base Clyde and practiced dipping sonar during the boat’s diving trials.Escorts in the English ChannelMeanwhile, the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless and the River-class patrol ship HMS Tyne followed the Russian frigate Neustrashimy from Oct. 1 to 14 as it escorted sanctioned cargo vessels through the Channel. Dauntless brings advanced radar and the Sea Viper missile system, the report says, while Tyne offers persistent patrol and monitoring capacity.After Dauntless took over the Neustrashimy watch, Tyne turned to another target from Oct. 11 to 14: the Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin, which was escorting the cargo ship MV Energy-2 and the tugboat Proton through the Channel toward the Baltic. Sailing from North Shields, Tyne got help from a Wildcat helicopter of 815 Naval Air Squadron, whose sensors extended the ship’s reach.Why it mattersAnalysis says the watch near Scotland carries extra weight because of the area’s place in the North Atlantic, close to the Greenland-Iceland-UK corridor used to monitor ship movements between the Norwegian Sea and the Atlantic. Intelligence ships can collect information on allied naval movements, communications and electromagnetic activity, which makes them a security concern near NATO exercises.Taken together, the missions show a layered approach: helicopters that can deploy quickly, destroyers with air-defense radar, and patrol vessels that can stay on station. The Royal Navy says the operations show it can react rapidly to Russian naval activity while keeping watch across its maritime approaches.