Day and night, F-35 jets from HMS Queen Elizabeth have carried out Offensive Counter Air activity, Strike Missions and Escort Packages.

The information comes via an official tweet from the UK Carrier Strike Group (@COMUKCSG).

Exercise Cobra Warrior stands as one of the most important air drills in the UK’s military calendar, focusing on advanced tactical training and providing an opportunity for participating nations to bolster interoperability and combat skills in a controlled environment.

Offensive Counter Air missions aim to achieve air superiority by targeting enemy air defences, while Suppression of Enemy Air Defences focuses on neutralising, destroying, or temporarily degrading hostile air defences. The F-35Bs advanced stealth, sensors, and electronic warfare capabilities make it an essential asset for these types of operations.

The Royal Navy say that the aircraft carrier, crewed by up to 900 sailors, with her F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters and Merlin helicopters will lead a mixed group of warships from various nations as they head to the Norwegian Sea and waters of northern Europe.

British carrier sails to lead powerful strike group

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“The UK leadership of this international strike group shows the strength of our commitment to working with Allies to promote security in Europe and demonstrate our resolve against any threat from potential adversaries.

With both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales deployed simultaneously, the Royal Navy sends a strong message that the UK’s capability for carrier operations is among the strongest in the world.”

The first phase of the deployment will see the carrier’s F35 fighter jets taking part in Exercise Cobra Warrior, the RAF’s largest bi-annual exercise, which will see aircraft from the Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the UK taking part in joint exercises.

The 18-day exercise will involve RAF Typhoon and F35 jets, A400M and C17 transport aircraft, and Voyager air tankers, developing interoperability alongside allied aircraft and practicing integration between fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft across air, sea, and land.

Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the Carrier Strike Group, said:

“It is with much eagerness that the UK Carrier Strike Group is now assembling for deployed operations – the first time the UK CSG will be under my command. This autumn’s deployment showcases the UK’s capability to operate at range from the UK and demonstrates our continued commitment to North Atlantic security.

The Carrier Strike Group is an agile and highly capable force and we are excited to be heading to the North Sea and North Atlantic along with our International Partner Nations to reinforce security across the region.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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23 COMMENTS

  2. It all sounds very impressive.

    The question is, when will FOC be achievable for Meteor & Spear 3 and where do we sit in the queue?

    “In a statement to Defense News, the F-35 Joint Program Office said it is confident the ECU engine upgrades can “minimize” the $38 billion in costs GAO highlighted.

    The ECU will restore engine life, and the [power thermal management system improvements] will ensure that the air vehicle can support future capability growth,” JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in an email.

    GAO recommended the Pentagon order the JPO, before moving forward with the engine modernization effort, to re-evaluate its analysis of how to upgrade the F-35′s engines after the services spell out what power and cooling capabilities they will need.

    “The upgrades to the engines’ core and thermal management system are expected to be fielded in the early 2030s, he said, though the exact schedule will depend on what design is ultimately approved.

    However, that means the engine upgrades necessary to handle the added heat may come a few years later than the F-35 will receive its Block 4 upgrades, now projected to be finished in 2029.”

    LINK

  3. I wonder what the UK’s mission-capable rate is.

    “WASHINGTON — Just 55% of the Pentagon’s fleet was mission capable as of March 2023, a disappointing statistic driven by factors like a lack of depot capacity, insufficient supply of spare parts and overreliance on contractors, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

    “According to DOD officials, over the last several years program officials realized that contractor-led sustainment for the F-35 program was unsustainable due to high costs.

    Several DOD officials we spoke to during the course of our review expressed significant concern over the costs of contractor labor in the F-35 program,” GAO wrote in its expansive 96-page report [PDF] “on sustaining the Joint Strike Fighter.

    The fleet’s average mission capable (MC) rate of 55%, defined as when the aircraft can perform one of its tasks, is well below targets of 90% for the F-35A and 85% for the fighter’s B and C variants. Newer aircraft tend to have much better MC rates, but even they are well below the Pentagon’s targets and average closer to 60% for the fleet, according to figures compiled by GAO.”

    LINK  

    • Your figure of 55% is as I Understand it an at best figure. The actual figure in some US squadrons is below that. Given that US squadrons have a shorter supply chain for parts. It is an alarming serviceability rate. The F35 cannot be grouped into one aircraft. It is three separate airframes with a commonality of some parts. The F35B was designed for the USMC as a ground attack aircraft. It carries in US service AAM for self defence only. It cannot be fitted with a gun whereas the 35A can be. The gun was a mission specific requirement for the US Airforce in the development of the 35A as a fighter. We are trying to get the 35B to do something it was not designed for.

      • Hi Exroyal, What I found interesting was that the Gun Pod designed for the F-35B (CAS) proved to be far more accurate in testing than the Gun mounted on the A version yet we have no intention of buying these to date.

        “The primary role of the F-35B STOVL aircraft is ground attack with a secondary air-to-air role. The aircraft is powered by a single main engine with a vertically mounted, shaft-driven lift fan propulsion system.”

        LINK

  4. Surely without an air group of 500 B2 boomers and done spitfires armed with photon Torpedoes the carriers are a total waste of money 😀

  5. The new Jackal drone armed with Martlet had me imagining a larger one armed with ASRAAM/Meteor for combat air patrol. Are we just now starting to see the outlines of how the carriers might not necessarily need to have any manned fighter/fast jets at the end of their service lives? Regardless, all the preperation going into ramping up carrier operations reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you. Any commander who claims he is ‘too busy to read’ is going to fill body bags with his troops as he learns the hard way.”
    – (American) General James Mattis

    • It sends a very positive message. That the RN can put to sea two incredible strike carrier’s, with 5th gen stealth capability only matched by the US Navy. France has 1 part time carrier. Russia has zero. Stop this constant moaning about a subject very few understand or can appreciate the complexity. The F35 fleet is growing. The experience to regenerate carrier strike doesn’t just happen overnight. FOC is 2025. A 2nd order of F35’s is coming soon. QE is taking part in a NATO exercise off Norway, you don’t need a full airwing for such an exercise, even if 74 or more F35’s were in service today. And those 8 jets will dominate the battle space compared to 4th gen assets. The other nations providing fast jets for the exercise will all number 8 or less jets.

    • Agree to a degree but it also shows that 8 aircraft sat on deck can ensure carrier qualification and further training for aircrew, while ensuring concurrent operations and training off deck continue! Any potential opposition also know that the carrier can be reinforced with both aircraft and helicopters, as available, as I’m sure they also do in peacetime training leading up to war! But as a none expert on the RN, but a casual and interested observer I might be wrong!

      • We can’t guarantee to be fighting an enemy also based at sea. However that doesn’t matter because we aren’t at war and the current goal is increasing our capability.

        We need a programme of carrier operations building up to CSG 25. We need to both ramp up the numbers to get to 24 and train for the complexity of operations. I don’t know how many exercises we have between now and then, but I’m really pleased to see both carriers back at sea this year, and hope we manage to fit in many more carrier exercises next year too.

    • I wonder if this is a contributing factor.

      25 SEPTEMBER 2023
      GAO says deficient maintenance leaves US F-35s well below mission-capable rate goal
      
      “Grounded: the US Marine Corps’ Lockheed Martin F-35Bs have lower mission-capable rates than their US Air Force counterparts; all types are well below their goals. (Lockheed Martin)”

      LINK

  7. Welcome folks to the U.K. defence force!! We can just about defend ourselves, but might need help from overseas.
    Shameful

  8. Good stuff. Training and practice is what makes forces excellent. The fact forces using different kit, speaking different languages can all work together is a real achievement. The fact is works so well is amazing.

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