Heading Into Twilight, Stretching Out Our Wings Tonight - The Royal Navy Danger Zone...

 

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH (QE) is currently steaming in UK waters, with no less than 22 aircraft embarked, including 14 F35 jets from both the UK and the United State Marine Corps. This is the single largest deployment of UK fixed wing carrier airpower since HMS HERMES in 1983. Be in no doubt, this is a big deal.

The embarkation of these jets marks a significant step forward in the journey for the Carrier Strike capability. It is the culmination of over 20 years of planning and effort by the UK, involving the efforts of the armed forces, civil service and the defence industry to generate two new aircraft carriers and their associated airwing.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

It is worth thinking about the level of vision required to deliver this – in 1998, when the project was confirmed in the Strategic Defence Review, the UK had not operated a big deck carrier for 20 years, while the then First Sea Lord (Admiral Sir Jock Slater) had served on the WW2 veteran carrier HMS VICTORIOUS.

From early days when the aim was to operate two smallish 30-40k tonne carriers, the project grew into delivering two extremely capable ships coming in at over 65,000 tonnes and representing the biggest warships ever built in the over 1,000 year long history of the Royal Navy.

The project came in for much criticism when the ships first went to sea on trials as being ‘aircraft carriers without aircraft’ after people saw pictures of empty flight decks and assumed that some boneheaded civil servant in the MOD had forgotten to click the ‘add to shopping basket’ button for the F35 purchase.

In reality there was a carefully planned set of trials and testing lasting a considerable period of time which needed to be gone through first. These were to make sure that the ships were safe to operate, that their handling limits were understood, that the constraints on when aircraft could, or could not, operate was clearly known and that any unexpected snags or problems were dealt with.

Then there was a period of phased incremental tests, embarking small numbers of jets to get experience of operating and supporting them at sea, and ensuring that the ship could work as intended. This was essential to ensure that bigger aviation embarkations could go as planned – you don’t want to be finding out ‘on the day’ that your ship cannot safely embark and operate two squadrons of fighter jets.

Following deployments out to the Western Atlantic to make sure the ship could operate as intended, we have now reached the next step in the programme. The QE will spend the next few weeks at sea operating as a strike carrier to test the concepts out, ensuring she can generate the aircraft and missions required and work as intended. This is the final piece of the puzzle before she can be declared ready to deploy globally, able to inflict violence on the Queens enemies as required.

Why though is this milestone particularly important? There are several reasons why this particular exercise is significant. The first and most obvious is that it marks a return to ‘proper’ big deck operations by the RN, arguably not seen since the 1970s with the old HMS ARK ROYAL.

This is significant as many though the loss of the Harrier in the 2010 SDSR was the death knell for maritime aviation in the UK – instead it has emerged with flying colours, and is now entering into a new golden era.

That this has been achieved would not have been possible without the very considerable support of the United States Navy, who generously offered places on their F18 training pipeline to ensure there were fixed wing qualified pilots in the RN with planes to fly, and big decks to train on.

For many years small detachments of RN personnel have embarked on many different US Navy carriers to keep their carrier deck handling skills current and ensure that these do not fade away. That this embarkation has occurred is in no small part due to the US Navy proving itself a true friend and ally.

In return the time has come for the UK to step up. The embarkation of 10 USMC F35 is a very potent sign of what is to occur in the future. Some have asked if it is right that there should be more US than UK jets onboard the ship, and if this represents a failure by the MOD – the answer is no, absolutely not.

The presence of a joint integrated F35 airwing on a Royal Navy carrier is a genuinely game changing accomplishment. To embark a squadron of foreign aircraft, their supplies, their maintainers and all the associated support, and to then integrate them into your own airwing, and operate it as a joint asset is something that no other two nations on earth can do.

Simply put, the Royal Navy is the only navy on the planet capable of embarking and operating a squadron of foreign aircraft as part of its embarked airwing. Think about that for a moment – not only has the UK acquired two incredibly capable aircraft carriers, its also made them so capable and effective that they can operate with allies embarked.

The UK has also shown that it is a sufficiently trusted and robust ally that the US feels capable of embarking its most modern military jets for a sustained period, safe in the knowledge that they can continue to contribute to US security. No other nation on earth enjoys that kind of relationship.

To those who say that the UK somehow matters less because it hasn’t got lots of its own aircraft embarked, the riposte is simple – what matters more to the policy makers in Washington – a foreign aircraft carrier that they cannot use, or a foreign aircraft carrier that is to all intents and purposes able to act as a US carrier too?

The next reason why this exercise matters is that its testing the international role of the ‘Carrier Strike Group’ concept. The force will soon form up with no less than 7 Royal Navy escorts and support ships and allied vessels too working together as a single operating body.

This helps show the enormous potential that the carriers bring to the UK as a way of leading coalition operations. By demonstrating the ability to operate not just with the US, but also integrate NATO allies too, the UK is showing that the Carrier Strike Group is a capability that other nations may want to participate in as well.

The potential longer term wins for the UK are the increase in influence as countries want to operate as part of a bigger naval task group, and the potential opportunities to integrate and work with new partner nations. Is it possible to imagine a UK carrier group operating in the Far East with allied ships from the region acting as escorts too?

The final big thing to take from this is that the Royal Navy is not a one trick pony. This deployment may represent the biggest use of the carrier force this year, which given that COVID has had a significant impact on how operations are conducted is impressive. But its not the only thing going on right now.

If you review the wider picture you can see a globally facing navy today operating across the planet. Right now the Royal Navy has a Carrier Strike Group forming up in the north sea with the single biggest embarked concentration of 5^th generation fighter jets at sea ever. It will be operating with NATO allies in home waters helping hone the fighting edge of all three services.

More widely there is a Task Group operating in the West Indies, with RFA ARGUS and HMS MEDWAY providing invaluable support to UK Overseas Territories. The provision of a big flight deck, embarked aviation package and a smaller OPV capable of getting into much smaller ports is a potent mixture and one that could potentially be called on to save lives. They’ve also had success with drugs busting too, helping support efforts to interdict the drugs trade and capturing £81m of drugs.

In the cold dark northern waters HMS SUTHERLAND and RFA TIDESPRING have been operating north of the arctic circle, alongside US, Norwegian and Dutch partners and supported by a significant RAF effort. This is the 2^nd RN vessel to operate in the region this year after HMS KENT, helping remind our Russian friends that the high seas remain free for anyone to sail on as they wish.

In the Med not only has the newly arrived HMS TRENT continued to operate across the region (most recently with the USS WINSTON CHURCHILL and the Cypriot forces), but HMS ENTERPRISE has also conducted support to disaster relief in the Lebanon.

Meanwhile UK forces are operating in the Black Sea, supporting NATO allies and Ukraine to assert their sovereignty against the constant threats from an increasingly aggressive and despotic Russian state.

Additionally right now there is an Amphibious Task Group forming up too, with HMS ALBION, a BAY class and HMS DRAGON all operating in the Med with allied LPD’’s helping to demonstrate the value and utility of amphibious operations.

In addition to all of this activity, the more routine operations continue – there remain ships deployed in the South Atlantic (HMS FORTH), while the significant RN contingent in the Gulf continues to maintain a daily operational routine to support efforts to maintain maritime security in the face of Iranian challenge.

This of course is without considering the unseen presence of the Submarine Service, which continues to operate as required to support national security wherever it may be needed.

All of this brought together is a good and timely reminder that the Royal Navy, ably assisted and supported by the RAF, British Army and allies remains a globally focused and outward looking force, operating across the globe on a daily basis.

And, as of tonight, it is the only navy in the world capable of embarking and operating foreign 5^th generation fighter aircraft squadrons as an integral part of the airwing. That’s a good reminder that in the global league of navies, the Royal Navy is definitely a ‘Top Gun’…