Two American warplanes have been conducting operations in the north Atlantic this week, tracking a suspected Russian submarine off the coast of Scotland

Two American warplanes have been conducting operations in the north Atlantic this week, tracking a suspected Russian submarine off the coast of Scotland.

The Independent reported on Thursday that the United Kingdom was forced to ask the US Navy for help because Britain does not have anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

The US Navy P3 Orion planes were called in to fill what British experts called a “gaping chasm” in the country’s anti-submarine capability, according to the report.

A UK Royal Navy frigate has also been dispatched for the operation.

Scottish National Party’s defense spokesman Angus Robertson criticized the US deployment, saying that Britain had resorted to going to its allies with a “begging bowl.”

The UK Ministry of Defense claimed that a Russian submarine was in the area and it may have been trying to track Britain’s Vanguard-class nuclear submarine near Faslane.

The Faslane Naval base, at Gare Loch on the River Clyde, is the home of the UK's ballistic missile submarines.

Meanwhile, sources said “visits” from Russian submarines were “happening quite often” off the north and west coasts of Scotland.