Ships and aircraft belonging to HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Carrier Strike Group have opened fire at an island but don’t worry, the island is a firing range and we’ve got a video.
HMS Kent, HMS Defender and HNLMS Evertsen joined F-35 fighters from HMS Queen Elizabeth and U.S. Marines ashore for a coordinated Naval Gunfire Support exercise aimed at delivering shore bombardment from the sea.
@HMS_Kent, @HMSDefender, and @HNLMS_Evertsen joined F-35 fighters from @HMSQNLZ and #USMarines ashore for a coordinated Naval Gunfire Support exercise aimed at delivering shore bombardment from the sea. pic.twitter.com/m8br3UZRub
— HMS Kent (@hms_kent) August 20, 2021
Don’t worry, the island is uninhabited.
Earlier in the month, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike have arrived in Guam. You can read more about that here.
What is the UK Carrier Strike Group doing?
HMS Queen Elizabeth is the deployed flag ship for Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21), a deployment that will see the ship and her escorts sail to the Asia-Pacific and back.
The Carrier Strike Group includes ships from the United States Navy, the Dutch Navy, and Marines from the US Marine Corps as well as air assets from 617 Sqn, 820 NAS, 815 NAS and 845 NAS.
The Royal Navy say that the UK’s Carrier Strike Group will visit more than one fifth of the world’s nations. Led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, the task group will visit 40 nations including India, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore in a deployment covering 26,000 nautical miles.
“While in the Pacific, ships from the Carrier Strike Group will mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the UK by taking part in Exercise Bersama Lima. Joining HMS Queen Elizabeth on her maiden deployment are destroyers HMS Diamond and Defender; frigates HMS Richmond and Kent; an Astute-class submarine in support below the waves; and Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.
More than 30 aircraft will also embark across the task group including F-35 jets from 617 Squadron, the Dambusters, and the US Marine Corps’ VMFA-211; Wildcat helicopters from 815 Naval Air Squadron and Merlin helicopters from 820 and 845 Naval Air Squadrons. Royal Marines from 42 Commando will also deploy with the carrier. Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen and American Arleigh Burke destroyer USS The Sullivans are also part of the strike group.”
Currently however, HMS Diamond isn’t with the group after suffering a defect. You can read more about that here. HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group will also undertake anti-submarine exercises whilst in the Pacific region.
What did that poor island do to the Royal Navy??
It probably had WMDs hidden somewhere.
Waiting for an enviro nut to complain about a rare worm injured by a 30mm shell! I must confess to being bored now the Putin bots have retreated!
All wildlife was successfully relocated to the ocean by the blast.
Give it 90 days and the Taliban will have occupied that island.
Hang on, wait. What?!
Make that 4 days.
LOL
Britain and France have been venturing into Kabul to rescue people while the US forces have been ordered not to leave the airport since the city fell. Germany too has helicopters en-route to be used for rescue missions into the city.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42083/germany-sending-special-ops-helicopters-to-kabul-to-rescue-evacuees-outside-the-airport
If they are sending helicopter now they must be planning on spending some time there, Today I’ve seen imagery showing 160th SOAR helicopters so you would expect the US is already doing helo operations.
SOAR as well as air refuellable chinook have been deployed by the US to cover their final retreat, the picket line will be gradually reduced to the area immediately around the runway as most of the soldiers are flown out and the choppers will pick up the final picket soldiers and fly out alongside the last plane.
The resistance against the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley must be encouraged and supported. It is clear that the Taliban only enjoy very limited if in fact any genuine support in a large segment of the country and that fear after the strange failure of the ANA was responsible for their lightning success. The opposition should be helped to regroup and the West needs to assist those who do not want to regress to a Dark age dictatorship
Disagree on that. I think the fighting needs to stop now and the focus should be on humanitarian aid and creating a constructive relationship with the Taliban government. The extraction process will take weeks. We need Taliban’s cooperation.
I don’t think you can have a constructive relationship with a 7th century inspired murderous death cult . The Taliban are already going door to door people are being executed , tortured and beaten. Multiple reports of all this now coming out. Evil is evil and shouldn’t be supported in any way shape or form.
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What are your sources for the door to door torture etc. How extensive are these incidents ? Are they mainstream or outliers?
Evil is evil we can agree on. But patience and foregiveness are virtues worth cultivating.
Islam is not a death cult. I used to think that. But it is a step forward from permanent tribal warfare.
The attitude of seeking to impose what we see as “right” for them is what has so comprehensively failed.
Supporting those who wish to oppose the Taliban is our only effective course. Would love to see the equivalent of the Kurdish female fighters emerge!
Agree on cause of our failure. But not on next steps. Your proposal sounds like a continuation of cold war CIA thinking. Are you thinking that the opposition if it succeeds will result in a regime less favourable to China and Russia and more disposed to the West?
Certainly agree Islam is not a death cult in the slightest, however the Talibans interpretation of it is far from the usual day to day practiced religion.
The western religions moved on in time, the Taliban want to go back in time and everything that it brings which does not fit into the modern world. Unless of course ethnic cleansing, forced marriages of children, subsequent rape of children and general day to day murder are classed as o.k in the eyes of the world today.
Agree re the inability of Islam to change itself. This is indeed the pivotal issue. This is not a forum for discussing theology, except I guess as it informs any decision to deploy force. Islam is a basic rules based system which enables a society to function; business can trade, people can raise a family etc. But unlike Christianity it does acknowledge that the process of coming to terms with your mistakes is the engine of personal development.
Saw numerous reports on the news one in particular from an Irish Dr who was out there and stated what her former patients and contacts were telling her. There have been numerous others saying same on the news including the door to door so I doubt very much it’s isolated incidents.
I agree with your sentiments on patience and forgiveness but the Taliban have a proven track record that isn’t up for any kind of debate. I don’t think they have changed they are still following their interpretation of sharia law and its brutal, they have no respect for human life or liberty and we simply should not give them anything not even humanitarian aid.
Hopefully Ahmad Massoud will be as effective as his father was at eliminating them.
either way sadly it’s the people who are going to suffer and that is the real tragedy of it all.
Oh and That nice mr Biden accidentally leaving all those military vehicles ,equipment and ammunition at Bagram airbase and so forgetfully leaving the 5000 Taliban prisoners Trump had agreed in the deal behind all wrapped up in a bow ready to hit the road into Kabul… a sorry mess indeed I’m sure we can at least agree on that…..
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Yeh, these incidents are happening. The Taliban leadership say this is not policy but rather undisciplined units and that offenders are ‘abusers’ who will be chased down. We’ll have to see if they can police their people. The Taliban is not a homogeneous whole.
Disagree on giving aid. Rather I agree with one of the Aid organisations on the ground that aid needs to be ramped up.
Read an interview but can’t find the link, with one of their leaders who acknowledged that more mature interpretations of Islam are possible. No detail but a sign the could be open to more flexibility.
How it is happening is an embarrassing shambles. Trump having signed the deal it was always going to be damage limitation but it looks to me like everyone who needed to be was not behind implementing the agreement. Why else was there a delay? The agreed date for US troops leaving was May. We need America to pull itself together.
The country is tearing itself apart.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-visas-afghan-refugees-troye-b1906190.html
I have enjoyed reading your comments Paul, thank you
You are welcome. Time for a cuppa …😉
The reports are from the Norwegian UN Human Rights Monitoring Group, which is a credible source. The Taliban are indeed a tribally based Islamic group, most of whose support comes from the Pashtun tribes of southern Afghanistan and they were set up and are the proxies of Pakistan. They are very hostile to the Shia Hazaras of central Afghanistan and they have always been opposed by the Tajiks of northern Afghanistan, whose leader Achmed Massoud has already declared war on the Taliban. His fighters have already been joined by remnants of the Afghan Army. The Tajiks have a close relationship with the French who have rushed troops to neighbouring Tajikistan in order not to invade but to prevent mass migration flows.
Thanks, this is interesting info; especially the note that the French have sent troops to Takjikistan. It’s a mess. What constitutes a community seems to depend on several parameters; ethnicity/ tribe,Islamic type ( Shia or Sunni), clan and family.
I think the reason why the Taliban is widely accepted is that since most of the population of Afghanistan is Shia with its evangelical Islam it is a pragmatic lowest common denominator which is able to unite the tribes into a nation.
The press today is reporting that the UK is working with France on a UN resolution; a long term holistic framework for dealing with Afghanistan which would be acceptable to Russia and China and would encompass agreements on dealing with Al-Queda type groups, refugees and humanitarian aid. Way to go I think.
The tali are out in the open? Their leadership have returned from Pak etc?
Slot the lot of them, now.
Oh for a Reaper and a load of Hellfires.
Your solution has the great merit of being easy to understand.
Guess you never met any of them? A leopard cannot change its spots, no matter what the say to the media.
Well, no I haven’t. But people can change. I’m a different person at 10 am to the one that got of bed. 🙂
Well said, Geoff 👍
Interesting. Is there I wonder the possibility if it can be negotiated with the Taliban of the Europeans staying on after the US leaves? The DT is reporting Wallace is communicating with the Taliban through our Qatar links.
If we ever find ourselves needing a T45 for NGS we truly are up the proverbial creek.
The space would make a great gym (I jest) and we could finally fit the extra VLS cells.
Is your point that one of the T45s is sidelined with a fault?
We are – an extra 24 cell Sea Ceptor Silo
Extra VLS space is going to be used.
In modern warfare any kind of main gun isn’t much good against a highly capable enemy except perhaps extended range 127mm shells like VULCANO, however that doesn’t mean they are useless.
It’s still a cheaper option for fire support that beats using precision weapons from expensive aircraft when you are engaging a less capable threat near the coast.
It depends on wether you are trying to take something out or just get the opposition to keeps their heads down.
A rain of 4.5″ shells is quite an effective deterrent to getting out of a fox hole. It is also relatively cheap to keep popping shells.
Sure any modern NGS is very accurate anyway.
Even a 24 shot VLS is going to run out of shots after 24 shots…..
It will be interesting to see what shells are purchased for the T26 main gun. I am still highly puzzled why an AWS ship have an NGS gun unless there is an intention to fire other smart things out of it like sonar buoys.
A T23 is an “ASW ship” and has a gun.
A T45 is an “AAW Ship” and has a gun
MR guns primary role on a warship is NGS. Any one can do NGS irrespective of Tasking as long as they have the Gun.
4.5 is an extended range shell…It has base bleed to increase the range by reducing parasitic drag on the shell.
Why is a gun of no use against a capable enemy?
With the use of VLS cells there is a limited magazine depth and once the cells are empty thats it. the same can be said for shore based battery’s
A MR gun has lots and lots of shells onboard (200 at least) that can be used in a variety of tasks be it NGS or Surface Action.
VT(H) VT(L) DA or Starshell
My reference for extended range was Vulcano, which reaches ranges of 120km compared to the 4.5’s 25-30. I also forgot to mention it is guided – for precise targets there’s not much of a comparison.
A gun isn’t much use against a capable enemy (which I was using to refer to a modern technologically advanced opponent with anti-ship abilities, among others) because if you are within 20km of the shore, possibly closer, you are extremely vulnerable to anti-ship weapons. The Type 45 is designed to detect missile threats from hundreds of kilometres and engage up to 120km. When it’s so close to the shore, it’s greatly limited in time to detect and intercept these missiles.
It is also within gun range, which it has some defence against but in high volumes is putting it in an unnecessarily risky position.
I did love doing a bit of NGS gunnery.
Working in the Gunbay loading or in the OPS room WORM’ing.
A day without Gunnery is a day wasted.
Gunnery is Funnery!
The video was probably from the PID on a Wildcat doing Fall of Shot calls.
Shells where fuzed DA(Direct Action) as there was no air-bursting.
Look on the PID thermal video …you can see the shrapnel (White lumpy bits) flying outward. On Air burst its even more impressive which is why a 4.5 Gun is so good for Swarm boat attacks…everybody in swarm will catch something from say a 5 round burst airbursting above them.
The video of the rounds leaving the gun is interesting. It show the base of the round as White = Hot. This is due to them being base bleed extended range rounds.The white part shows the chunk of burning propellant in the base of the round that fills the vacuum behind the shell with gases as it flies through the air, so reducing drag . Its not Rocket Assist ( That’s something else) it just reduces the amount of turbulent air to the rear of the shell that would act as drag and otherwise reduce the range.
I found range days some of the most miserable, except in Cyprus of course.
Had grim weather booked especially for range days, long days.
Excellent explanation there! I loved NGS as well (I was an NGS RO but secretly wanted to be in the gun bay!) Wonder what they will say on a T26, can’t use four five engage with a five inch? Five engage doesn’t sound so good!
FIVE-OH… SHOOT!
Considering HMS Diamond is still tied up it’s not an encouraging advertisement for our ability to sustain operations.
This should have been a perfect opportunity to practice keeping a deployed group operational, the turbines are designed to be replaced over a couple of weeks. But no, that would be asking too much.
The rest of the group is operational and still deployed, its hardly stopped it happening.
They knew the engines would break down before they built the first destroyer. Rest of engine room gear ok. Even the carbon fiber prop. They would be better off with diesels. They could be located anywhere.
The engines have been fine, the intercoolers caused the issues in hot water not the turbines themselves. The aircraft carrier uses turbines and that hasnt broke down.
Operational ?
That is not a measured metric in the RN.
HMS DIAMOND can sail if needed with one GT Alternator running instead of the fitted two. It would be a risk and would reduce the ships Operational Capability by having no redundancy available except for the 2 x DG Sets.
Operational Capability is the driver and metric used.
Here is a good reason why the RN has a MR gun
HMS Marlborough’s Account of the Iraq War, March 2003 | Page 2 of 3 | Naval Historical Society of Australia (navyhistory.org.au)