The Royal Air Force has recorded two unexplained drone encounters this year, both occurring within days of each other during routine training exercises and refuelling operations over the North Sea. The incidents raise fresh concerns about hostile surveillance activity near UK military assets, as drones operating at extreme altitudes and undetected by radar appeared in restricted airspace.
The first incident took place on February 18, when an RAF Airbus Voyager tanker was refuelling a Typhoon fighter jet off Cromer, Norfolk. At 17,000 feet, more than 40 times the legal altitude limit for commercial drones, a pilot spotted an unidentified object approaching the aircraft. The object’s proximity forced the pilot to take evasive action. The second encounter occurred five days later, on February 23, during simulated combat training about 30 miles off Humberside. A Typhoon pilot reported seeing a black, circular drone, roughly the size of a car tyre, fly overhead at 300 feet, well below the 400-foot civilian drone ceiling.
Neither drone appeared on military radar, and their flight patterns exceeded the capabilities of most commercially available drones. They have notified police, and multiple investigations are now underway. While no direct link to hostile actors has been confirmed, the timing of the incidents, just days before the US launched military strikes against Iran, has intensified speculation about foreign surveillance operations.
Earlier this year, US forces were placed on high alert after detecting unidentified drones near Fort McNair in Washington, DC, a military installation housing senior government officials. Defence analysts had previously noted that drones observed over US airbases in Norfolk and Suffolk were linked to a Russian vessel positioned offshore. The Kremlin has faced repeated accusations of orchestrating drone surveillance campaigns targeting UK and European military sites, including RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
A report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies found that between August 2024 and February 2026, Russian intelligence conducted a drone campaign using a network of oil tankers to evade detection. The study described the operations as “tactical successes” for Moscow but also highlighted “strategic failures” in allied air defence. The drones flew at low altitudes, avoiding radar detection while gathering intelligence on key installations.