Overview

• Open-source flight tracking shows RAF P-8s repositioned from the UK’s western approaches to the Norwegian Sea, maintaining near-continuous coverage through rotating sorties.
• Analysts report five of the RAF’s nine Poseidons were used in one 24-hour period due to the type’s lack of air-to-air refueling, allowing one or two aircraft on station at a time.
• The Ministry of Defence says the activity is an operation rather than an exercise and declines to release operational details.
• US and Norwegian maritime patrol aircraft have been flying in the same area as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, with media citing at least 27 Poseidon sorties since Sunday and eight by the RAF.
• Tabloid reports describe aircraft switching off transponders near the patrol zone and note the presence of HMS Somerset, details not independently confirmed by officials.