British patrol ship ‘opens fire’ near Falkland Islands

HMS Medway has put 120 rounds downrange from her 30mm automatic gun during training in the South Atlantic, carried out with staff from Flag Officer Sea Training embarked, according to the Royal Navy.

The ship said: “120 rounds downrange. With @FOST embarked, we took the opportunity for further routine training and put our 30mm Automatic Small Calibre Gun through its paces again. Practice = Precision.”

Flag Officer Sea Training sends its assessors to sea with warships to put crews through the full range of warfighting serials and certify that a ship is ready for operations, a process most vessels go through in home waters before deploying.

The 30mm Automatic Small Calibre Gun is the main armament of the River class, a stabilised mounting firing a high explosive round out to around two and a half kilometres, and the weapon a patrol vessel would use against a small craft that failed to comply. Accuracy with it depends on gunners who shoot often.

Keeping the weapons serviceable in that climate takes work of its own, of course. The ship’s weapon engineers have been maintaining the armament through the South Atlantic weather, and Medway said of them: “The Falklands wind doesn’t make maintenance any easier! Our Weapon Engineers work hard to keep our equipment ready when it matters, whatever the weather throws at them.”

Medway carried out live machine gun firings at the edge of the Falkland Islands Conservation Zone during a four-day patrol at the end of July, British Forces South Atlantic Islands stated at the time. The patrol, designated Operation Southern Vigilance, ran from 26 to 29 July, and the ship’s company fired mounted machine guns and worked through a man overboard exercise alongside an RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft, work the command describes as maintaining operational readiness. According to British Forces South Atlantic Islands, the deployment demonstrated Britain’s enduring commitment to the Falkland Islands by maintaining a visible presence and a capable force, helping to deter potential adversaries.

Other training has continued alongside the gunnery, and the ship carries a Rigid Raider in addition to two Pacific 24 seaboats, allowing it to land personnel and equipment ashore, and it has been running routine exercises with 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. Seaboat coxswains have been practising approach and pacing drills with peer-to-peer coaching in the evenings.

HMS Medway is a River class offshore patrol vessel commissioned in 2019, and she took over the South Atlantic Patrol Task from HMS Forth, which held the role for several years after replacing HMS Clyde. The class displaces around 2,000 tonnes and carries a 30mm gun, machine guns and a flight deck able to take a Merlin, with an endurance suited to long independent patrols in remote waters.

The ship is the only Royal Navy vessel permanently assigned to the region. British Forces South Atlantic Islands also operates Typhoon fighters and A400M and Voyager aircraft from RAF Mount Pleasant on East Falkland, alongside an infantry company, Sky Sabre air defence and a radar station on Mount Byron.