Navy ‘ready to sink Russian warships’ with new missiles
Navy ‘ready to sink Russian warships’ with new missiles
Tom CotterillSat, May 23, 2026 at 7:10 PM UTC
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Two Wildcats from 815 Squadron on their deployment to Cyprus after RAF Akrotiri was targeted by an Iranian drone - MoD
Britain’s fleet of naval attack helicopters is ready to hunt and sink Russian warships if they threaten the UK, the Navy has said.
Officers in charge of the Wildcat fleet say that after receiving new anti-ship and air defence missiles, the aircraft are the most lethal helicopters ever flown by the Senior Service.
The Telegraph has been given rare access to the force before its deployment this summer as part of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group to the High North.
A Wildcat helicopter armed with Martlet anti-ship missiles on board HMS Dragon - MoD
The task group will sail towards the Arctic – an area now being contested by Vladimir Putin’s navy, which is increasingly threatening Nato’s northern flanks with submarines and warships.
Wildcats from 815 Naval Air Squadron, one of two units in the force, will be key to defending the £3.2bn aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and its battle group from hostile ships.
Cdr Andrew Henderson, in charge of the group, said his team was ready to fight in “our own backyard”, and use Wildcat’s new arsenal to protect Britain and its allies from Russian warships.
Asked what message he had for the Russian president, Cdr Henderson said: “We remain ready to fight and are training very hard to sink your ships.”
Russian warships, pictured during a blockade of Ukrainian ports, are increasingly menacing Nato’s northernmost territories - Alexander Demianchuk / TASS
The Wildcat strike group is made up of around 500 people and 28 helicopters split into two teams – 815 Naval Air Squadron and 825 Naval Air Squadron. It is based at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton, in Somerset.
The force has been equipped with the new Sea Venom anti-ship missiles, which can obliterate warships, and new supersonic Martlet missiles that can sink smaller boats.
Personnel from the unit have recently been deployed to Cyprus to protect allies from Iranian air attack after RAF Akrotiri, a British air base on the island, was struck by a Russian-made drone in March.
Aviators spent six weeks flying sorties across the eastern Mediterranean, working alongside HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, and the Navy’s Merlin helicopters.
Sea Venom missiles in action - MBDA
They have also carried out war games in Norway as part of Exercise Tambor Shield, which involved the crews preparing for their mission with the carrier strike group. The team operated in the Norwegian fjords, which could be a key battleground if Russia attacks Nato.
Later this year, Wildcats will be joined by Peregrine drones, 10ft unmanned aircraft that can use sophisticated sensors to covertly spot and track enemy warships at greater distances than ever before.
The combination of new missiles and drones, which can fly ahead of Wildcats, will give crews an unparalleled ability to strike surface vessels, naval aviators say.
“What we put forwards is an aviation platform that is lethal against ships,” said Cdr Henderson. “We can sink Russian ships. We can shoot and sink uncrewed surface vessels, we could down uncrewed aerial vehicles.”
2305 Sea Venom
The team from 815, led by Cdr James Woods, takes care of front-line operational work, and is capable of embarking on Britain’s two aircraft carriers, six destroyers and seven frigates.
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Its sister unit, 825, focuses on training and refining tactics, which have shifted from operations in the Middle East in response to the increased threat posed by Russia.
Wildcats can be armed with four Sea Venom missiles, which have a range of 19 miles and can detonate on ships with a 30kg warhead, or 20 laser-guided Martlet missiles, which fly at Mach 1.5 and hit targets at five miles with pinpoint accuracy.
The Martlets are also used by gunners from the Royal Artillery, who call them the Lightweight Multirole Missile. Hundreds have been sent by Britain to Ukraine, with Kyiv’s forces using them against Russian troops on the front line.
2305 LMM missile
Cdr Sammy Haynes, commanding officer of 825, said the missiles gave the Navy the ability to inflict crippling blows on enemy vessels without destroying them.
“During trials, we have flown this through the window of the bridge, and exploded the missile inside,” he told The Telegraph. “If you think about how a warship operates and how much chaos that will cause to them, you will take away their ability to fight by doing that.”
Controlled by an operator from the Wildcat’s cockpit, the missiles can also target radar systems, or fly straight into a hangar and wipe out a ship’s air support, Cdr Haynes added.
Crucially, the ability to damage vital systems, without obliterating an enemy vessel, gives the Wildcats a greater degree of flexibility on the “escalatory table” of warfighting in the battle to deter Putin, crews said.
“If you take out their radar, you might not hurt anyone,” added Cdr Henderson. “That’s a very palatable option for a politician to say, ‘There are Russian warships operating in the grey space around the United Kingdom’s waters, do something about it.’”
A Martlet is fired from a Wildcat during an exercise in the south of France late last year - MoD
During The Telegraph’s visit to RNAS Yeovilton, crews training on one of three simulators showed how they were able to spot, target and destroy vessels in a matter of seconds with the Martlets.
Cdr Woods insisted crews were already set, saying: “We are absolutely ready. We hold force elements here at readiness, all the time, 365 days a year, 24/7.”
Commanders said the Navy was moving back into Cold War thinking, focusing less on large, lengthy global deployments and more on being ready to deploy rapidly to counter Russia, with Wildcat teams able to scramble and get their aircraft airborne in just five minutes.
As part of this, 815 has deployed a Wildcat to Norway, where crews are working closely with naval forces there. It is an alliance that will deepen, commanders said, as the Norwegians seek to join forces with Britain to hunt Putin’s submarines.
Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins, the head of the Navy, has warned that Britain is increasingly being pressured by Russia in “our own back yard”.
Engineers moving the missiles from a rack on HMS Dauntless. The Wildcat is unloaded and loaded with Martlets in a routine cycle every 12 hours - MoD
In the past year alone, the number of Russian ships entering UK waters has increased by a third. The rise, which has concerned top brass, has forced the Navy to send warships to shadow Kremlin vessels, submarines and spy ships such as the Yantar, which military chiefs suspect is attempting to map Britain’s network of undersea cables.
“Despite Russia’s egregious war against Ukraine, where millions have been killed or injured for modest gains in territory, Russia has continued to pump huge resources into its Northern Fleet and increasingly capable sub-surface capabilities,” Gen Jenkins previously warned.
“Right now, we are being tested in the Atlantic – our own backyard. These are unstable and dangerous times. Our job is to protect our island nation. We are the first and last line of defence for the United Kingdom.”
The First Sea Lord added: “This is where I must be absolutely clear – we fight with what we’ve got. This is not a slogan. It is a statement of intent. It is the hard yards of leadership excellence that will determine whether we succeed or fail.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
