Drones noticed following British warship HMS Queen Elizabeth in Germany simply days after the unmanned aircrafts hovered over US airbases in England

A mystery drone was seen following a British warship at sea – days after unmanned aerial aircrafts were discovered over three air bases in the UK. 

The Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth seemed to be tailed by an unidentified 1.5-by-1.5metre drone at the entrance to the port of Hamburg, Germany, on Friday.

The German military tried to target the drone with HP-47 jammers before it flew away, according to the German newspaper Bild. 

It comes after the US Air Force yesterday told that ‘unmanned aerial systems’ flew over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, as well as RAF Feltwell, of Norfolk, last week.

While US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) played down the incursion, it came amid a week of serious escalation of hostilities between Russia and the West over the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

For the first time, Kyiv‘s forces hit targets inside Russia using US and British-supplied long-range missiles. 

In retaliation, Russia tested a new mid-range hypersonic ballistic missile in a strike on Dnipro, Ukraine. 

The attack marked the strongest missile understood to have been used during the conflict so far. 

British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured), which seemed to be tailed by an unidentified 1.5-by-1.5 metre drone at the entrance to the port of Hamburg, Germany, on Friday

The German military attempted to target the drone with HP-47 jammers before it flew away, according to the German newspaper Bild 

This weekend, Russia warned that British support for Ukraine could ‘lead to a collision between nuclear powers’ in a grave threat as Putin vowed to launch more hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine.

Andrey Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, cited American support for Ukraine to use Western missiles against targets in Russia, backed by Britain and France, in his warning that ‘this seriously escalates the situation’ and ‘can lead to a collision between the nuclear powers’.

The Kremlin suggested this week it was ‘entitled’ to fire upon ‘the military targets of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities’ in a thinly-veiled threat to the West, after the US gave its support for Kyiv using ATACMS missiles against Russian and North Korean forces in Russia.

After striking the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with an experimental hypersonic missile early on Thursday, Putin ordered the mass production of the ‘unstoppable’ Oreshnik, believed to be able to reach Britain in under 20 minutes.

Putin has said he will fire more of Russia’s new hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile being launched as part of nuclear deterrence forces drills in Russia on October 29, 2024

‘There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production,’ Putin said.

Amid rising fears of escalation, Ambassador Kelin told that Britain was now ‘directly involved’ in the war in Ukraine after its Storm Shadow missiles were reportedly used to strike targets inside Russia.

British long-range missiles were reported to have been greenlit for use and then used after the US gave approval for Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles. 

‘Absolutely, Britain and UK is now directly involved in this war, because this firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well,’ Mr Kelin told the outlet.

‘The US administration, support[ed] by France and the UK, has made a deliberate decision to make these strikes, which seriously escalates the situation, and it can bring a collision between the nuclear powers.’