Royal Navy launches torpedo from undersea drone in warning shot to Vladimir Putin

Built in Plymouth, the vessel can be controlled remotely from almost 10,000 miles away and is currently undergoing sea trials.

The torpedo itself was co-developed by the United States and Australia, engineered to destroy warships and deep-diving submarines.

Both Britain and the US conducted the trial under the Aukus defence pact, which focuses on advanced submarine technology, AI and autonomous undersea systems.

Neither nation had previously launched a torpedo from an uncrewed underwater platform.

The MoD described the successful test as a "significant breakthrough" for Euro-Atlantic security and Nato's undersea capabilities.

Russia has already been conducting a form of "hybrid warfare" at sea, deploying spy ships and covert underwater assets to surveil the UK's undersea cables and pipelines, stoking fears of sabotage.

This spring, Nato allies caught Russian submarines practising with a secret weapon near the remote Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic.

The device was designed to knock out vital undersea cables without leaving a trace.

The Royal Navy's 12-metre submersible drone, the XV Excalibur, fired the weapon last week in British waters

ROYAL NAVY

Moscow's GUGI undersea warfare directorate oversaw the covert operation, using deep-sea submersibles to practise using the technology for real, two Western officials told Reuters.

A combined British, Norwegian and American mission tracked and intercepted the Russians, forcing them to abandon the exercise and withdraw.

London and Oslo revealed the discovery of the Arctic operation in April, though details of the weapon, precise location and US involvement only emerged days ago.

Three US officials said American intelligence analysts are growing worried that Russia could test Nato's Article 5 mutual defence commitment - potentially by severing a subsea cable.

There are two fibre-optic cables connecting Svalbard to the Norwegian mainland, running as deep as 2,700 metres underwater.

They transmit enormous volumes of satellite data from SvalSat, the world's largest satellite ground station and part of Nasa's Near Space Network.

The cables transmit enormous volumes of satellite data from SvalSat, pictured here behind former Foreign Secretary David Lammy last summer

PA

The Kremlin, for its part, denies carrying out sabotage against Nato members or planning any confrontation.

It also calls its four-year-long invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation".

But fears are rising at the very top of Nato that Russia could attack Europe at the same time as a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned that China could force Russia to launch an attack on the continent while it invades Taiwan in the Asia-Pacific.

While in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Moscow is plotting "hybrid" drone and missile attacks on nations that back Ukraine.

A Czech intelligence chief told The Guardian a possible escalation could come in "months, not years".

Baltic intelligence agencies insist there is no sign of an imminent attack - though Lithuania, which sits between Russian ally Belarus and Russian exclave Kaliningrad, is making evacuation plans as a precaution.

The Prime Minister travels to New York on Tuesday for the UN General Assembly, where he will sit down with US President Donald Trump for their first in-person meeting.

Ukraine, the Middle East and AI are set to dominate discussions among world leaders in the days ahead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to hold talks with Mr Trump on the margins of the summit.

The US President has been urging him to stop his country's strikes on Russian oil refineries, citing concerns over fuel shortages and rising energy prices.

The Middle East produces nearly triple as much oil as Russia.