HMS Prince of Wales Continues Extended Pacific Voyage

The UK-led carrier strike group led by HMS Prince of Wales (R09), has now left Singapore after a week-long port visit, and is heading further east to Indonesia, a series of Australian-led exercises, and then northwards past Taiwan to South Korea and Japan.

The multinational group escorting the flagship now comprises the Canadian Halifax Class frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec (F332), New Zealand ANZAC Class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77), Norwegian Nansen Class frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311), Spanish Álvaro de Bazán Class frigate ESPS Mendez Nunez (F104), Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33) and Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond (F239), with logistic support provided by RFA Tidespring (A136). There will also no doubt be an Astute Class submarine shadowing the CSG.

With some vessels of the CSG splitting off to make other port calls in the area, the focus of the visit to Singapore has been defense diplomacy and technological cooperation, reinforcing the UK’s commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangement, a mutual defense treaty organization created in 1971 between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand Singapore and the United Kingdom,

The CSG will participate this month in the Australian-led Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, which involves US forces and other multinational partners, and training in all three land, air and sea operational environments. HMS Prince of Wales will be calling in at Darwin as part of the exercise.

The CSG will then head north to exercise with and make port calls in South Korea and Japan, with the focus en route being on which elements of the CSG will exercise rights of navigation through international waters in the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force F-35B from HMS Prince of Wales which made a forced landing on June 14 at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala remains under repair, now attended to by a specialist tow vehicle and 40 UK engineers flown out from the UK to fix the aircraft’s hydraulic systems. The classification of the F-35Bs systems has inevitably been a concern, with the Indian press noting that the aircraft’s pilot, identified as ‘Flight Lieutenant Mike’, had remained in the cockpit for an extended period after touching down while security arrangements were put in place.

The Indian authorities, who are believed to be interested in an F-35 purchase, would inevitably have a keen interest in the F-35’s technical systems. But UK authorities were assured that the stealth aircraft would be safe from prying eyes, with one local commenting that the aircraft was likely to better guarded in India than in the UK, where protestors found it easy to enter the RAF largest airbase at Brize Norton last week and damage a parked aircraft.