The Value of Presence and Permanence in Royal Naval Operations

 

Over the last few weeks we have been reminded of the gentle power of both presence and permanence when it comes to naval power. For the Royal Navy, the deployment of two RIVER class OPVs to the Pacific Ocean on a 5 year deployment marks the return to a constant naval presence in the region last seen in the 1990s with the Hong Kong squadron.

HMS SPEY and TAMAR have been deployed into this vast region full of tiny nations and big challenges to help represent British interests in the area. Historically a region where the UK has had relatively limited naval presence or influence, even at the height of RN power subcontracting the Imperial fleets presence to the Royal Australian and New Zealand Navies, this is an area of increasing importance for geopolitical reasons for the British government.

HMS TAMAR on Ex Bersama Lima - Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

The commitment to an Indo-Pacific tilt in the 2021 Integrated Review, which helped show the UK looking beyond traditional areas of interest marked a major policy shift within Whitehall. Across Government, not just in the MOD, there has been a stepping up of engagement with trade delegations, diplomatic missions and wider government engagement supported by a gentle stepping up of military presence.

 The reasons for engagement make eminent strategic sense. The Indo-Pacific region is full of vibrant democracies, old allies and exciting opportunities to build new links. Smaller island states, many of whom are Commonwealth members and Realms are threatened by climate change, and concern about how the growing strength and reach of China threatens their own stability.

Nation states matter in this region, and in the international diplomatic system where ‘one nation, one vote’ continues to count. In these circumstances building relationships, not just via the prism of AUKUS or 5-EYES, but also with old friends perhaps unreasonably neglected for some time makes good strategic sense.

For all our concerns about Russia and stability within Europe, it is hard not to reach the conclusion that Russia is a failing power which has overstretched itself in Ukraine, and which faces a demographic and economic timebomb that will eventually reduce (but not remove) the threat it poses.

By contrast China represents a complex challenge to handle, offering both threats and concerns through its aggressive military actions, and building up of forces amid threats to Taiwan and elsewhere, but also some potential economic opportunities too. Amid all of this there is a space for the UK to seek to engage and try to work with friends and partners in this region to take forward new opportunities.

HMS SPEY in Vanatau - Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

The presence of HMS SPEY and TAMAR make a real difference to how the UK can handle its relationships in the region – particularly with the smaller island states. These magnificent vessels, capable and well designed for their role of maritime policing are small enough to be able to fit into many of the ports and anchorages less well travelled by larger RN vessels.

If you look at their list of recent engagements, with HMS SPEY acting as the first Royal Navy visitor to Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Vanatau, Papau New Guinea and the Pitcairns among others for many decades in some cases, this has proven an excellent chance to build relations and thicken links.

In Fiji, for example, the SPEY was able to take Fijian naval personnel to sea, helping develop a seariding relationship that is also borne out back in the UK, where Fijian Naval Personnel have recently passed out of Dartmouth and Collingwood on various courses. These sorts of visits, with ships and technology not dissimilar to the host nation help build meaningful long term links that can pay dividends for years to come.

Fijian personnel onboard HMS SPEY -Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

The value of these deployments is that they offer a level of engagement and reassurance, as well as a practical sign of UK interest in the region. The ability to send a ship into a port to meet with local nations, develop links and build relationships is timeless Royal Navy activity, and one that it is very good at. Previous deployments of RN vessels into the region have seen high value escorts make fleeting visits en route to other locations, whereas this deployment provides an opportunity to settle the ships in for a much longer sustained presence.

Part of this is enabled by the support offered in the region by the RN facilities in Singapore, which while emphatically not acting as a base port for these ships, do represent a valuable facility from which they can stage out of when required. This is borne out by the recent deployment of HMS TAMAR to support Exercise Bersama Shield, a key FPDA exercise.

The ability to come alongside a British naval facility in SE Asia, drawing on RN stores and support and then head out to other locations as needed is a good reminder of the importance of the global network of facilities operated by the Royal Navy to support the fleet and its allies.

One of the most important of these facilities is Gibraltar, an ancient sovereign British territory firmly aligned to the UK, and home to a key airfield and naval base. This facility represents a critical point in the Med, and is home to several RN vessels including HMS TRENT and smaller patrol craft.

A key advantage of Gibraltar is its ability to host visits by nuclear submarines, both British and allied, and resupply and support them as required. The very public nature of the ‘Z Berth’ where they dock ensures that their presence is publicly seen by all those who live on ‘the rock’.

In the last week we have seen a high profile visit by both HMS AUDACIOUS and USS GEORGIA. The AUDACIOUS is the newest attack submarine in the Royal Navy, an exceptionally capable platform able to carry out a wide range of missions and roles as required.  The USS GEORGIA is an OHIO class submarine, initially used for SSBN duties and then latterly converted to carry tomahawk cruise missiles and special forces to conduct ‘interesting’ duties.

The fact both vessels berthed alongside together is an incredibly powerful and hugely symbolic act. There are only a tiny number of locations where the US Navy would feel comfortable sending some of their most priceless assets to visit, which speaks volumes about the strength of the Anglo-US links. It also reminds us that as a NATO location, Gibraltar is able to support US operations as required, with a capable runway able to accommodate C17 flights, and a dockyard able to support nuclear submarines.

Meanwhile the very public imagery of HMS AUDACIOUS onloading Tomahawk cruise missiles reminds us of the power of British nuclear attack submarines, able to fire with pinpoint accuracy from over 1000 miles away from their target. That both vessels were prominently and publicly on display with TLAM being ammunitioned onboard was without doubt a powerful message.

Submarine port visits are a strong way to send a message. You don’t put an asset into a port unless you want friendly and hostile nations to know that they are in the region. The message that has been loudly and clearly sent is that there are at least two exceptionally capable British and American nuclear capable submarines in the Med region right now.

Where they go next is entirely unknown – from Gibraltar the world is your proverbial oyster in terms of setting a course, but for those concerned with trying to factor in how to counter such a vessel, the mere fact that they are skulking on the surface ostentatiously taking on further ammunition causes problems.

The permanence of sites like Gibraltar enables this sort of public psychological power game to be carried out. Very few nations have the ability to deploy this sort of firepower – even fewer have the ability to then operate comfortably out of one another’s bases, in the way that the US and UK can. Gibraltar is an invaluable location that provides the British and allies with access, support and the certainty of being able to use in a crisis in a way that other nations cannot provide.

Few nations enjoy this level of access, capability or reach, and it is perhaps telling to compare the British, able to reach out with friends to enjoy facilities around the world, support partners in their own facilities and those of Russia – friendless, unsupported and unable to rely on similar such access. It is perhaps proof, if more were needed, that having a big military does not necessarily mean that you have a capable global military.

Naval power is about more than just the number of ships that you have, it is about your ability to support them, to use them effectively and not just have them tied up alongside and to extend their reach. In the case of the Royal Navy one of the oft forgotten reasons why it is such a capable global naval power is because it invests in, and retains a global network of permanent sites  to support the fleet from. When coupled with a force that is now increasingly long term forward deployed and the result is a Navy that provides options and access to the Government of the day.