The UK-led Carrier Strike Group, known as CSG25, has officially commenced operations in the Indo-Pacific as part of Operation Highmast.
Led by aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, the group includes allied warships from Canada, Norway, Spain, and New Zealand, and recently conducted a joint exercise with the Indian Navy.
According to the Ministry of Defence, this engagement “deepens the UK’s defence relationship with a key strategic partner ahead of a port visit to India later this year”.
The task group previously conducted exercises in the Mediterranean and transited the Red Sea before entering the Indian Ocean. It is now set to continue port visits and operations across the region, with scheduled stops in Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Australia.
“I am delighted that our Carrier Strike Group and 4,000 Service Personnel are now operating in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard. “This isn’t just about hard power; the upcoming exercises and port visits are about building influence and boosting trade opportunities both for defence and other sectors of our economy.”
The deployment aims to project British capability, reinforce international partnerships, and demonstrate integrated fighting readiness with two embarked F-35B Lightning squadrons from the RAF and Royal Navy.
“The deployment sends a powerful message that the UK and its allies are committed to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of CSG25. “It’s a privilege to lead our sailors, marines, soldiers and aircrew as we demonstrate warfighting capability.”
CSG25 will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, a major Australian-led multinational drill involving the UK, US, and regional allies. Port visits will also support the UK’s Plan for Change, showcasing British defence exports and facilitating trade growth.
The strike group will also host the Pacific Future Forum in Japan, bringing together defence, technology, and security leaders to address shared regional challenges.
What about the stray F35b ? Assume that wayward chick returned to the nest safely?
With tanker support an F35B can fly a long way quite quickly…..
Much vaunted carrier needs land based air power…..really…..
Any carrier benefits from land based support
Especially one that cannot support itself sufficiently.
I see, so when USN uses RIVET, P8 or AWACS to support one of its flat tops that is a failure?
What would you rather do….have the F35B flying before it is properly fixed and certified and risk the frame/pilot.
In this instance a proper fix is necessary and given that it is taking off from land the use of a land based tanked to extend range isn’t silly at all. Bear in mind that land based tankers can and do buddy fuel so the ranges are enormous given that they are based on long legged civil types anyway.
It is quite common for RAF frames to take off fuel light and then to tank when airborne as it saves the engine wear of taking off heavily loaded with fuel and munitions.
Haters going to hate and completely miss understand the difference between strategic air support and capabilities and tactical air support and capability and how carriers interact between the two and both turn tactical aircraft into a strategic capability ( by carrying them great distances) and having their effectiveness amplified by strategic air support… for some the world is both simple and binary…
black sheep in the squadron probably an American one 😁
I think the F35b is the ugliest aircraft I’ve seen. I much prefer the sleek lines on the F18 or F35 still it’s good to see a mostly full deck, it makes them look really powerful ships. I stumbled upon a picture of the QE AND THE POW without the ski ramp made for a good looking ship.
Starting to seem a bit strange that we have a massive carrier strike group near Iran just as things are about to kick off and she is headed the other way.
I can see the captain now as she passes the USS Nimitz “nothing to see here, move along” 😀
Not our beef – we need to stick to NATO plus Aus/ NZ
I do not disagree that we.may want to steer clear for.the moment but with the many Iranian proxies in the gulf causing concerns and with Iran every closer to a nuclear weapon to say its nowt to do with us is at best shortsighted naivety. Surely the carriers were built for such force projection…even if they haven’t got sufficient protection.
id hop maybe a discreet agreement with the Indians might have been made to assist with any major issues.
I doubt we want anything to do with this reckless action, except to protect our bases. Better to steer clear.
Regime change without a plan for what happens after, where have I heard that one before?
It’s a shame I always hoped Iran would have a peaceful revolution and become a democracy.
Lots of interesting architecture and archaeology there that will probably be dust in a few years now.
We have assets in the region as a security guarantee. Quite frankly Iran is not our problem we are quite happy to see Israel take them on.
Yea the Nimitiz carrier air wing doesn’t have any F35Cs yet, just Super Hornets and Growlers, as far as I can tell. So CSG25 would have complemented Nimitz very well in this regard.
The Carl Vinson CSG is still in the area, and it has F-35Cs.
USN has 3 carrier battle groups in the region or on their way, plus bases in the region too for USAF, so any necessity for striking Iran beyond what Israel has is already catered for to the point of overkill. So POW can carry on with her scheduled deployment. RAF can operate from Cyprus or Gulf states, if ever required.
Besides, with USN CSG pulled from SCS to support potential Iran operations it’s useful having ours there as cover.
👍
massive??? I think not.
Why is it taking 3 days to return the F35? Why the News Blackout? Not normal this but I dont want to sound paranoid.
Dont relax – let the professionals sort it
professionals? this deployment included the government and the MOD it’s a wonnfder that it ever got out of Pompey.
Do we know how many F35s made it east of Suez on PoW? Also, I note that US carriers are currently heading west towards the Gulf. In these circumstances, they may be relatively happy that the UK CSG is heading east…
Somewhat surprising that there are no scheduled port calls listed for Brunei, Malaysia or New Zealand. Lack of suitable port facilities, schedule pressure, no invitation extended due to PRC geopolitical machinations, other causes? Potential for unannounced visit by elements of CSG? Dunno, a somewhat curious plan to avoid visiting significant allies after the effort involved in generating an eight month cruise/deployment. Have to believe these folks would appreciate a visit from ‘mother,’ especially when she is clutching a large rolling pin to discourage bullies. 🤔😉
Brunei lacks port facilities plus its dry (no alcohol) NZ is too far away. Malaysia regularly hosts US carriers so I can’t imagine they would refuse UK.
Singapore is the more important one as they will want to use Royal Navy facilities based there.
Singapore definitely. I suspect most of the CSG will dock at the Changi Naval base. The RN facilities in Singapore at Sembawang are small although it can cope with a frigate etc. When the Singapore Navy built the Changi Naval base, the ability to accommodate a US carrier was factored in. Singapore may be small and whatever people say, the one thing a lot of western powers could learn from it (god forbid, that sounds sacrilegious) is planning for the future. Towns, infrastructure, facilities, climate change and rising sea levels – Singapore has already modelled this for the next 50 – 100 years and planned financially for it. The same can be said for its military. Since the start of this year, the Singapore Navy has been deploying UUVs, working alongside their LMVs to patrol certain parts of the Straits of Singapore. These UUVs have already been certified for use in sea lanes.
It’s pretty handy being a one party state where people named Lee can plan what government will do for the next 100 years 😀
Sembawang Wharves is plenty big enough for the group. Lots of images showing it hosting up to 10 ships in HMS Ark Royal, albeit PoW is bigger still.
we can always ask if the Americans might bring theth 5th fleet across towards us as for additional air assets we can operate from Diego Garcia.
Too few ships and too many potential port visits to fit in the likes of Brunei, Malaysia (both well frequently visited by the OPV’s) or New Zealand (just far off the beaten track). POW herself now seems set for visits to Singapore, Indonesia, Darwin in Australia, Japan and South Korea between now and the end of September. Maybe she’ll also squeeze in a visit to US Naval Base Guam for some assisted maintenance plus R&R? Then homeward bound and presumably by early December all over for another four or so years.
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Fully understand time constraints imposed on the CSG deployment. Still contend that a CSG port call in Malaysia and New Zealand would generate both intangible and tangible benefits for the UK. Visits of an OPV are acceptable, but it is an entirely different matter to have a fleet carrier and escorts materialize over the horizon.
Moot point – has New Zealand EVER been visited by an RN aircraft carrier since 1946? The obvious problem is that since the 1980’s the occasional group deployments that include a carrier as the flagship are typically “East of Suez” for just 4 to 5 months, and have a lot of exercises and flag waving to cram in. Sending the carrier for a port visit to [presumably] Auckland would just take up too big a chunk of the schedule to justify.
my wife is getting so fat, she has more chins than the Beijing’s phone book.😭😔😔
Currently in the Indian Ocean… not the pacific
Anyone know if the CSG will come down as far as Sydney and even NZ? We’ve just had the USS America LHD and an San Antonio assault ship here following after the Chinese navy circumnavigated Aus. Time for a visit and fly the 🇬🇧.
Will be interesting to see how or if the UK CSG might be integrated in Talisman Sabre 2025. This years iteration is set to be the largest yet with 30,000 personnel from 19 countries including Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands, UK) India and SE Asia alongside the U.S. and Australia.
USN contribution includes a carrier (either the George Washington or Nimitz) a Tico cruiser, oilers and two LPDS to work alongside the Canberras.
Lots of new ADF kit being tested including our HIMARS test firing the new long range PRSM missile and the army’s NASAMS ground based missiles.
Hope the UK is invited to the party. Will be a useful test of interoperability all round.
NZ – I would have to ask why? Sydney? Again why? If POW needs a graving dock, then Sydney is one of the few places in the West Pacific (or Indian) that can handle such a ship with expected security. Otherwise, if you are coming from half a world away, there are nicer places to visit. USN is different, Pacific is part of their backyard. POW is both an international endeavour & a domestic endeavour. Join the navy & see the world & all that, support long term allies etc etc. But reality is QE & POW is in an any realistic scenario, are not going past the Atlantic & Indian Oceans. The again, that is a far slice of the world.
Sydneysiders might take some offence to ‘better places to visit’ given they have one of the best harbours on the planet. But hey the booze will be cheaper in SE Asia if all you want to do is get sh**faced.
We could always fly out aircraft & tankers PDQ if necessary. No need to deploy a carrier taking weeks when air-miles will do. USA would probably do the same. Same for NZ. They really do need to get a couple of squadrons of fighters at the very least. PRC getting bases nearby.
we can always ask if the Americans might bring theth 5th fleet across towards us as for additional air assets we can operate from Diego There’s always the king George graving dock in Singapore.
Some great photos, good to see the RN and allies deploying around the world to engage in defence diplomacy, exercises and mutually supportive training.
Anyone else see that ridiculous (well is it, with ill-informed morons?) kafuffle about India’s 1990s ATC radars detecting the F-35 at quite distance while it was approaching to land on mainland India.
Some wanky press has it that now that “stealth” doesn’t work. They mustn’t have heard of Luneburg Reflectors invented in WW2 or the 4 stick-on units F-35s carry most of the time, if not all the time in peace-time. I wonder why, maybe 1) In peace-time, ATC can see them, 2) so can your friendlies in the area, 3) your enemies in the area get no insight as to what an F-35’s radar profile actually looks like, 5) all of the above ? 🙂
I must admit I wasn’t aware that UK F-35s had reflectors fitted during peacetime operations, but now you mention it, it certainly makes sense.
Hi Dan, Yep even in the banner picture for this thread you can see the little bumps on upper wing roots.
media cllickbait
ignore it