UK Carrier Strike Group returns to the Mediterranean

• Ships and personnel to take part in main NATO workouts after 5 months in Indo-Pacific. 

• Deployment reinforces UK dedication to European safety and NATO management. 

• Italian-led Exercise ‘Falcon Strike’ will see leading edge UK and Italian F-35s working side-by-side. 

The UK Carrier Strike Group will strengthen NATO safety by means of main workouts within the Mediterranean following 5 months within the Indo-Pacific area. Defence Minister Alistair Carns and Minister for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, welcomed the ships and crews as they return to European waters.   

Training facet by facet with the Italian, US and Greek Air Force – the UK’s most superior F-35 fighter jets will participate in day and evening coaching situations, strengthening NATO’s air capabilities, deterring our adversaries and boosting the alliance’s safety. 

The Carrier Strike Group returned to the Mediterranean by way of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. This adopted 5 months of operations within the Indo-Pacific, together with help to UK financial development with main defence business and commerce showcases throughout the area.   

HMS Prince of Wales leads the deployment, which included as much as 4,000 UK army personnel alongside Norway, NATO, and regional companions.   

Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns, stated:   

Spending six months away from residence, on the far facet of the world, prepared at a second’s discover to defend your life and the lives of your fellow shipmates – is a giant ask for anybody.  

But visiting HMS Prince of Wales at NATO amenities in Crete, and assembly simply a number of the 4,000 personnel supporting this mammoth deployment, I noticed the distinctive bond shared between members of our Navy and Armed Forces in motion – the willpower and dedication they bring about to a unprecedented job.  

Deployments like this, which see us coaching alongside NATO allies and increasing our defence relations all over the world, are crucial to boosting our nationwide safety – preserving us safe at residence and robust overseas.

Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, stated:

The Carrier Strike Group’s work with European companions is a transparent sign to allies and adversaries alike of our dedication to a safer, safer area.

I’m significantly pleased with the work of our armed forces personnel constructing the essential capabilities and relationships that underpin our NATO alliance on sea, air and land – and it was a pleasure to fulfill them.

Our personal safety at residence, and that of Europe as an entire, is dependent upon European and transatlantic cooperation between pals and allies, with the UK main from the entrance on this deployment.

The Carrier Strike Group will now take part in Exercise Falcon Strike, a large-scale air and maritime train the place the UK will combine air and maritime forces within the Italian-led train, while working in help of NATO.  

The deployment demonstrates the federal government’s Plan for Change dedication to make Britain safe at residence and robust overseas. National safety supplies the muse for financial development, defending very important commerce routes and supporting hundreds of British jobs in defence manufacturing and innovation.  

During this part, the Carrier Strike Group will conduct a sequence of engagements with NATO and EU nations, by means of port visits to Greece, Albania, Italy and Spain. This consists of defence and overseas coverage engagement to deepen bilateral partnerships and defence industrial collaboration.  

It comes because the Minister for the Armed Forces met with personnel throughout a go to to Crete, the place HMS Prince of Wales stopped to refuel on the NATO facility at Souda Bay.  

Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the Carrier Strike Group, stated:  

It is unbelievable to be again within the Mediterranean after a massively profitable interval within the Indo-Pacific and a transit of the Red Sea. The upcoming workouts with NATO allies shall be an actual demonstration of the warfighting readiness of the UK Carrier Strike Group.  

The eight-month deployment covers over 26,000 nautical miles and engages with 40 nations, reinforcing the UK’s place as a number one European energy delivering fifth-generation plane and provider capabilities assigned as a main contribution to NATO.