British and Italian carrier air and sea power converged over the Mediterranean on Saturday as Italian and UK F-35B jets, joined by Italian Navy AV-8B Harriers, flew in formation over HMS Prince of Wales and Italy’s flagship Cavour.
The flight followed the conclusion of Exercise Neptune Strike, a core element of Operation Highmast, the UK’s eight-month global carrier deployment. Italian F-35Bs embarked directly on HMS Prince of Wales for the exercise, validating the two nations’ ability to operate a genuinely interchangeable Joint Carrier Air Wing.
According to the official release, the deployment “proved interoperability and interchangeability between the two nations,” with the combined air wing flying missions on behalf of NATO across the Mediterranean.
Operation Highmast is now entering its final stages. After a five-month sweep through the Indo-Pacific, the UK carrier strike group has re-entered the Mediterranean for a final series of multinational exercises before returning home. The mission has involved around 4,500 British personnel, including nearly 600 RAF aviators, 900 soldiers and 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.
The UK describes Highmast as a strategic signal of long-term commitment to both Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific security. The Italian navy’s integration into the carrier air wing reinforces NATO efforts to standardise operations at sea, creating combined carrier strike groups able to surge at short notice.
Saturday’s fly-past was captured by photographer AS1 Amber Mayall.
How come no one ever counts the planes on Italian carriers?
Because they can fill theirs ?
Forgot the 😁😁
In all fairness it would chokka with half of the frames on PoW.
It has a designed capacity for ~12 F35B and 10-12 cabs.
I’m hoping to see the Italians land a Harrier on PoW before they are gone for good soon, a little taste of what could have been if 2010 SDR hadn’t rushed them out of service (for a short period of time at least).