RAF Coningsby 'ready' to defend UK skies

A Lincolnshire RAF station says it is "ready" to deal with any threats amid tensions with Russia.

On Tuesday, Flt Lt Tom Nation, a Typhoon pilot based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, said:"We're here to defend UK airspace and show we are ready to meet whatever threats might be posed to us."

Station commander, Gp Capt Andy Hampshire, said all 3,000 personnel, civil servants and contractors at the base were "geared to making sure the skies above the UK are protected and defended 24/7".

On Monday, MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli said: "We are now operating in a space between peace and war", as she laid out the "interlocking web of security challenges" that the service is working to tackle.

BBC presenter Naga Munchetty visited RAF Coningsby on Tuesday to hear how the base was preparing to tackle any future threats.

Gp Capt Hampshire told BBC Radio 5 Live: "What we need to do specifically at Coningsby is understand what those threats are, how we prepare for them, defeat them and recover from them."

He said the focus of the base has "remained constant" but there are "multiple threats we have to face".

Flt Lt Nation said:"You have to have a healthy respect for the seriousness of the job that you're going to do but it's not something you dwell on. We just carry out our duties as professionally as possible."

Sqn Ldr Gavin Leitch, an air defence master controller, said: "The aim of any mission is always to deescalate as much as you can."

Instances of drones appearing over airports and airbases, and cyber attacks on infrastructure point to Russia's so-called "hybrid" warfare and "grey-zone" tactics, Ms Metreweli said.

Such attacks includes events that are often deniable, such as cyber-attacks and disinformation.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused European countries of hindering US efforts to bring peace in Ukraine.

He said: "We are not planning to go to war with Europe. But if Europe wants to, and starts, we are ready right now."

During his annual lecture at the Royal United Services Institute, chief of the defence staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton referenced analysts who said there is "only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the UK".

However, Sir Richard said Russia had "made clear that it wishes to challenge, limit, divide and ultimately destroy NATO".

Sgt Jake Burns trains counter drone system operators at RAF Coningsby.

He said drones now play a "monumental" part in modern conflicts .

"The progression of drones has come on tenfold in the last five years and is still progressing at a rapid rate," he said.

Sgt Burns said there would be a "potential" that drones could threaten base operations but mitigations were also in place, including educating people on how to report drones they are concerned about.

He added: "Education would be paramount in teaching people how to react and who they report it to.

"If you see it flying low or loitering around then look for an operator. Every drone operator should have a flyer ID."

Speaking to Munchetty, Luke Pollard MP, minister of state for defence readiness and industry, said: "If we had an instruction from the prime minister today to defend the United Kingdom we would do so but we are seeing an increase in the variety and complexity of the threats.

"We need to adjust the way that we are ready."

Last week, Nato's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, said Russia could attack a member of the Western military alliance within the next five years.

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