The Royal Navy has handed over command of NATO’s new Atlantic maritime force after a year in which it laid the groundwork for securing transatlantic sea lanes in the event of conflict.
According to Navy News here, Rear Admiral Rob Pedre, Commander of the UK Strike Force (CSF), formally transferred authority to Italy’s Rear Admiral Andrea Petroni during a ceremony aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth on 1 July. The Royal Navy’s 12-month tenure marked the launch of Commander Task Force Atlantic (CTF Atlantic), one of five new regional maritime commands created by NATO as part of a restructured high-readiness posture.
Over the past year, a 100-strong CSF team based in Portsmouth, including personnel from all three UK services, NATO allies and civilian specialists, has drafted a full concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Atlantic. These plans are designed to ensure safe passage for reinforcement shipping into Europe in the event of crisis or war, particularly in response to an evolving Russian naval threat.
“The recently-published Strategic Defence Review firmly puts NATO at the heart of UK Defence policy and it is a privilege for CSF to act as the fulcrum of the Royal Navy’s ever-growing commitment to NATO,” said CSF Chief-of-Staff Colonel Andy Dow RM. “The threat we face is clear – as is the importance of the Task Force Atlantic Mission. CSF is at the centre of a Navy which leads, a Navy which fights and a Navy which wins.”
CTF Atlantic is one of five theatre-level commands formed when NATO replaced its single High Readiness Force structure with regionally focused maritime task forces, covering the Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea. These commands rotate between alliance members and are designed to be flexible and responsive in rapidly evolving security conditions.
The UK-led command focused heavily on planning for the safe transit of shipping between North America and Europe, identifying chokepoints, modern submarine threats, and maritime infrastructure vulnerabilities. The plans, developed collaboratively with allies, will now serve as a foundation for future rotations of the Atlantic command.
Although Italy has now assumed leadership of CTF Atlantic, the UK Strike Force remains heavily engaged in NATO operations. CSF is now tasked with leading the Allied Reaction Force (Maritime), a multinational rapid response formation with HMS Queen Elizabeth as its command ship and afloat headquarters.
The Royal Navy is scheduled to retake command of CTF Atlantic in 2028, read more here.
Just think if it said,
“Britain lays battle plans to secure the Channel”
(hard hat on) 🫣
Fortunately, this is a serious defence news website, so that kind of boring and inane drivel is left to the bots and trolls.
Well said and 10/10 for the Ironic comment.
😂
20000 this year already,48% up on last year!
INSANE and boring isn’t it?
The daily invasion is boring and insane? The price of a type 31 a week on foreign benefit scroungers? People like you are as just as big of a problem….
That’s fairly serious even if it doesn’t fit your twisted view of reality.
Bot.
Rommel always said the invasion would be won or lost on the beaches and that tanks were needed to counter any breakthroughs early. OK so for tanks read drones but the rest still holds good. On that basis I would say they are putting a brigade ashore every couple of months. In summer every month. Over a year, etc. The Border farce and RNLI are doing a fine job.
“War” with Russia is extremely unlikely and, were it to take place, could well go to a nuclear level very quickly. So “battle plans” to secure the Atlantic, when you can’t even secure the Channel against a systemic peacetime threat falls, quite legitimately, into the category of distraction.
Exactly Roy.
“The enemy within”.
Tunnel
what with?
Does this mean that the CTF Atlantic team up sticks from the UK to Italy or does Italian Navy command personnel move to the UK?
Probably not move the “Atlantic fleet” to Italy, one would assume that the Italian Navy command personnel would move to the UK.. or work from home remotely
Is the concept of convoys strictly a relic from WWII, or is there a modern equivalent practiced for potential E-A conflicts? Presuming NATO retains air supremacy over North America, NA and Europe, an air bridge could be instituted for troop transport, but substantial materiel would still require maritime transport. Sufficient AAW, ASW assets available? Still the case if not only the Orcs but the ChiComs come calling simultaneously? 🤔
Convoys were being used in the read sea recently, they make sense against an air or missile threat but they would not make much sense in the North Atlantic against nuclear submarines. If an SSN is close enough for an escort to engage the last thing you want is a bunch of ships with in a single engagement range of the SSN. Also gives it lots of noise and space to hide.
The tactic would very much be to push them back to their bastions nowadays rather than waiting for them to come near a shipping lane.
The SSN’s would use their speed and range to attack targets over a very wide area.
A modern SSN anti merchant shipping operation would be much more like the hunt for the Graf Spey than the U boat war.
Understand tactics v. Orcs, not as certain re effectiveness v. ChiComs, w/ essentially limitless assets in the foreseeable future. ChiComs will have bastions everywhere, in a manner analogous to metastatic cancer.
Four additional T-26s would provide a reasonable margin of safety, four vessels operating throughout E-A on a routine basis, would seem a reasonable counterpoint to four SSN(A). May have to revise estimate radically, if/when all the CRINKs decide to engage in unfriendly acquisition/merger activity simultaneously.
Italy has command of the Atlantic Task Force and Atlantic Sea Lanes? What experiance des Italy have with the Atlantic and convoy duties. If someone said Germany, Holland France,even Spain:but Italy?
Here comes the next question. Does any NATO/ European NATO have any real convoy escort ships? No. What we need as a convoy escort is aa follows: Anti Air a single Mk41 Block with 4 Aster 30s, 8 CAMM MR and 8 CAMM, with four escorts to a convoy Russia would not be able to put enough long range aircraft in the air. These ships should have an additional 57mm and 2-4 40mm as anti drone, anti swarm and point defence. As for anti ship ability no more than four launchers would be needed. Now comes the main task anti sub well a hangar for 2-4 Merlins and a Mk41 Block for vl-50mile range ASROC.
The sensor suite in some ways needs to be a mix of good and very good. So if we look at todays systems the NS-100 for air threats, but a CAPTAS 4 for sub threats. The crusing speed needs to be the same as a fast convoy say 20 knts for 3,000 miles but a max speed of 5 knots more than the convoy so a fuel capacity for 3,600 at cruise + 20% transit distance at max,(turn around if need be). The ship should be fully operational upto sea state 5 for helicopters, TAS etc.
However, there is one more ship that is needed the escort carrier. She would need to be able to cruise at 20 knts ( fast convoy)for 3,000 miles (Atlantic pus some sapere), Have a capacity of 25 knts which would increase fuel capacity for 4,500 miles at cruise. She must also carry 6 F35Bs and 9-12 Merlins in a hanger. If we could build into her a well deck she becomes a very useful Multi Purpose Combat Ship.
Convoy escort is not difficult if you have the right tactics and kit. So the question is, is the T26 the right kit for convoy escort, no. Would she be good at the job, yes. Is she a good return on investment, no. She is a hunter. There is a diffrence between gamekeeper and poacher. The escort ship is the game keeper, the convoy is the game. The T26 is the hunter, the enemy sub is the game.
So the diffrence is this a anti sub frigate such as the T26 hunts the enemy, an escort frigate defends tha nest. Europe has the hunters, but what about thye defenders.
Sorry this new keyboard is a pain
Why,is it in Latin?
I think as Jim said, the convoy escort doctrine doesn’t really hold up when SSNs can take pot shots into crowded fleets. We have to simply prevent submarines getting into the Atlantic where they can do damage, and so the GIUK gap comes into play again.
So T26 is a pretty good bet.
Apart from the sonar, that escort is literally just the Type 31. Or have I missed the joke?
“Jokes” are not allowed on here, this is a serious site, for serious discussion by serious people who take themselves really seriously.
Any hint of humourous activity is seriously frowned upon and action is taken from a more serious higher level to remove such behaviour and those who participate in said activities.
Now on a serious note, Hard lessons were won and many lives lost during the last World war’s ongoing convoy escorting ops, a battle the Allies won. These lessons have not been ignored.
Secure Atlantic against Russia?😂😂😂😂 Hahaha, hahahaha,cheered me up a bit at least.
Secure Atlantic against Russia?
This game changing technology has been available for 2 years, but it involves the decision makers (PM etc) actually walking away from the suffocation of the big defence companies, and implementing new tech from established experts.
This game changing tech could secure the Atlantic within 2 – 3 years from now, and probably cost less than a frigate.
Isn’t this what 6th Gen new tech is supposed to be…leaving the old stone age frigates and the like as Bygone?