The Royal Navy’s mighty flagship leads Britain’s finest north, with F-35 stealth jets ready to guard NATO’s frontier.
The White Ensign is flying over the High North once more. HMS Prince of Wales, the largest warship Britain has ever built, has set sail for the Arctic and North Atlantic, bringing British stealth fighters back to some of the most strategically vital skies on earth.
It is a proud moment for a proud maritime nation. For centuries, Britain’s security and prosperity have depended on the sea, and today that tradition continues. The energy supplies, trade routes and undersea communication cables that every British household relies on run through these northern waters, and it is the Royal Navy that stands watch over them.
The pride of the fleet
The flagship sails with the formidable Type-45 destroyer HMS Dauntless at her side, and her flight deck carries an air group to match any in the world: fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets, Merlin Mk4 Commando and Mk2 submarine-hunting helicopters, Wildcat helicopters and Malloy drones.
More than 1,200 British sailors, aviators and Royal Marines-supporting personnel serve with the Carrier Strike Group. Alongside allies from Norway, Denmark and Germany, they will train and operate together to keep the Alliance sharp and ready to respond to whatever the world throws at it.
Minister for the Armed Forces Louise Sandher-Jones MP said the deployment under NATO leadership was “a clear demonstration of the UK’s commitment to the Alliance” and to the lasting security of the North Atlantic.
Where Britain leads, allies gather
HMS Prince of Wales will also be a stage for British leadership. In Oslo, the carrier will host the Atlantic Future Forum and the International Sea Power Conference, where defence chiefs, industry leaders and policymakers will meet aboard a British warship to shape the future of Euro-Atlantic security in an increasingly dangerous world.
Commodore Richard Hewitt, commanding the UK Carrier Strike Group, said he was delighted to return to the Arctic and build on the success of the operation’s first phase. Led by the British flagship, he said, the Strike Group would seize every opportunity to train and integrate with NATO allies and partners.
The second phase of Operation Firecrest is about readiness: keeping Britain’s carrier force at peak capability, deepening cooperation with friends and preparing for the challenges of a region growing ever more important.
Standing firm across Europe
Once again, the UK Carrier Strike Group will operate under NATO command, taking a leading part in Neptune Strike, the alliance’s vast exercise testing allied land, sea and air power across Europe and the North Atlantic.
The carrier joins British forces already holding the line for NATO: 800 British troops in Estonia, RAF Typhoons guarding the skies over Romania, and P-8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint aircraft keeping watch over the Baltic Sea.
And Britain stands apart in one crucial respect. The UK is the only European NATO member to commit its nuclear deterrent in full to the Alliance, and, as confirmed in the Defence Investment Plan, it will join NATO’s Dual Capable Aircraft nuclear mission with F-35A jets.
From the Arctic Circle to the Black Sea, from the Baltic to the North Atlantic, Britain’s armed forces are where they have always been: on the front line, defending freedom. Our sailors and aviators sail north with the nation’s gratitude and pride.
Image: MOD Crown Copyright News / Editorial Licence.
