The HMS Queen Elizabeth will not join the exercises off Norway’s Arctic coast and will be replaced by the HMS Prince of Wales…reports Asian Lite News
A British aircraft carrier that had been set to lead the largest NATO exercises since the Cold War will not set sail on Sunday after a problem with its propeller was discovered during final checks, the Royal Navy said.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth will not join the exercises off Norway’s Arctic coast and will be replaced by the HMS Prince of Wales.
The change of plans is almost a reverse scenario of what happened in August 2022 when the Prince of Wales broke down with a propeller problem on its way to carry out training exercises with the United States and Canada off North America. The carrier had to be towed back to port from the Isle of Wight and the HMS Queen Elizabeth took its place in the exercises.
With the HMS Queen Elizabeth sidelined, the navy may not be able to deploy an aircraft to the Red Sea — as armed forces minister James Heappey has suggested — where hostilities have been heating up with Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting cargo ships in the waters connecting Asia with Europe and the US.
The UK joined the US on Saturday in striking 36 Houthi targets in Yemen in a second wave of assaults meant to further disable Iran-backed groups that have relentlessly attacked American and international interests.
The propeller problem is the second setback for the Royal Navy in less than three weeks, following a collision by two warships in a harbour in Bahrain, causing damage to the vessels but no injuries.
Military officials said they were investigating the cause of the collision in which the HMS Chiddingfold appeared to reverse into the HMS Bangor as it was docked. The two minehunters were based in the Middle East to help protect merchant vessels.
The HMS Prince of Wales will now lead Exercise Steadfast Defender with a carrier strike of eight ships, four British, along with US, Spanish and Danish vessels. (AP)
UK has denied that any warning shots were fired, saying its warship was conducting an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law”, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
More than 20 Russian warplanes and coastguard ships have targeted a Royal Navy warship sailing near Crimea, it was reported.
Moscow on Wednesday said its warship fired warning shots after British Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Defender, violated Russia’s maritime borders in the Black Sea.
“At 11:52 am on 23 June, the HMS Defender of the British Royal Navy, operating in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, violated the border and entered three kilometres into Russian territorial waters in the region of Cape Fiolent,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said in a press statement.
According to the military, the British warship was warned that deadly force would be used if it violated Russia’s borders. The ship was said to have ignored the warning, Sputnik reported.
“At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol vessel carried out warning shots. At 12:19 a Su-24M carried out a warning bombing run using 4 OFAB-250 [high-explosive fragmentation] bombs at the HMS Defender’s path of movement,” the statement added.
“At 12:23 the combined actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Forces of the FSB forced the HMS Defender to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation,” it further said.
Meanwhile, UK has denied that any warning shots were fired, saying its warship was conducting an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law.”
“We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior warning of their activity. No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognize the claim that bombs were dropped in her path,” the UK Defence Ministry said in a pair of tweets.
HMS Defender was sailing from Odessa in southern Ukraine to Georgia. To get there, it passed south of the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that has not been recognised internationally.
While Moscow claims the peninsula and its waters are Russian territory, the UK says HMS Defender was passing through Ukrainian waters in a commonly used and internationally recognised transit route.
A later tweet from the Russian embassy in the UK said: “HMS Defender turns HMS Provocateur and violates Russian border. Not exactly a ‘routine’ transit, is it?”
But a UK government spokesman played down any notion of hostilities, insisting that Russia was doing “gunnery exercises” in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, a BBC Correspondent on board HMS Defender said the ship was going to sail within the 12 mile (19km) limit of Crimea’s territorial waters.
The captain insisted he was only seeking safe passage through an internationally recognised shipping lane, Jonathan Beale said.
He also said two Russian coastguard ships that were shadowing the Royal Navy warship, tried to force it to alter its course. “At one stage, one of the Russian vessels closed in to about 100m,” his report in BBC said.
Earlier this month, UK had joined 14 other nations to call on Russia to cease aggression against Ukraine and end its occupation of Crimea, following Moscow’s informal Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine.
“We call on Russia to immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and end its occupation of Crimea and the egregious human rights abuses it inflicts on the Crimean population,” a part of the joint statement read.
Two days ago, the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has launched its first direct military operation against Daesh as part of its first deployment after UK has shifted its focus to Indo-Pacific.
British and American F-35B Stealth jets took off from the decks of the new carrier to strike the terror group’s positions in Syria and Iraq. Defence officials said several Daesh positions were destroyed. (with inputs from ANI)
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the deployment of carrier strike group is a “symbol of Global Britain in action, and powerfully demonstrates our commitment to India, the Indo-Pacific region, and confronting threats to international order”, reports Asian Lite News
The UK’s carrier strike group, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth is set sail to India in the autumn on its maiden operational deployment as a representation of the ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’ in its foreign policy, the British High Commission (BHC) said on Monday.
The BHC statement said that the HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier will sail to India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the wider region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myMcec_7IDw
“The Carrier will visit West Coast Ports where it will engage in a series of events to maximise bilateral relations benefitting both countries’ trade and political alliances. The ship will conduct a series of joint exercises with Indian military forces in the Indian Ocean, expanding our interoperability and enhancing our capabilities to defend against shared threats and protect our democratic values,” the statement added.
Throughout the deployment, the UK will support freedom of passage through vital global trading routes and demonstrate commitment to a recognised international system of norms and behaviours that benefit all countries.
It will also help to establish a maritime partnership with India to support our mutual security objectives in the Indian Ocean.
The UK Government’s landmark review of foreign, defence, development, and security policy, published last month, committed the UK to become the European country with the broadest, most integrated presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of trade, shared security, and values.
Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP said UK and India are natural defence partners, particularly in world-class research, development, and training.
“The UK and India are natural defence partners, particularly in world-class research, development, and training. The Carrier Strike Group’s collaboration with India will build the foundations for this relationship to flourish even further,” said Wallace.
“The deployment is a symbol of Global Britain in action, and powerfully demonstrates our commitment to India, the Indo-Pacific region, and confronting threats to international order.”
Last December, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab travelled to meet Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in New Delhi to make progress towards agreeing a landmark UK-India roadmap for greater joint cooperation, including on defence and security, trade, health, and climate change.
Later this year, the UK has invited Prime Minister Modi to attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK, in recognition of India’s role as the world’s largest democracy and as a vital partner to the UK in tackling global challenges like climate change and coronavirus.
The Carrier Strike Group will travel over 26,000 nautical miles from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea, and from the Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.
The Strike Group will also comprise Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, Type 23 anti-submarine frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, and tanker and storage ships Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.
The UK and India have a bi-annual exercise programme across all the services where Indian and British forces undertake joint exercises: Exercise Ajeya Warrior for the Army, Exercise Konkan for the Navy, and Exercise Indra Dhanush for the Air Force.
