Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of Russian Yasen class submarines transiting the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap.

While it is not routine practice to comment on the operational activity or intent of individual foreign vessels, the Ministry of Defence keeps all potential threats to the UK under constant review. This includes threats to critical national infrastructure, such as offshore energy installations.

The Government continues to strengthen the protection of critical national infrastructure through the implementation of the Strategic Defence Review. This includes initiatives such as Atlantic Bastion, which enhance the UK’s ability to deter, detect and respond to threats in the maritime domain.