Royal Navy First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, joined the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) for joint operations over the North Sea on 26 September, underscoring the close operational bond between the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy.
Sir Gwyn took to the skies in an F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 213, piloted by Lt Cmdr Chris Kapuschansky, as the jet flew over the world’s largest aircraft carrier during its ongoing deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.
The flight was part of a day of engagements aboard Ford focusing on interoperability, carrier operations, and transatlantic maritime integration.
Following the sortie, Sir Gwyn met Rear Adm Paul Lanzilotta, Commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, on the flight deck to discuss shared priorities in North Atlantic and European waters.
The visit came as Ford continues its deployment aimed at supporting the “warfighting effectiveness, lethality and readiness of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa,” while defending allied and partner interests across the region.
I’m sure he enjoyed it although it’s not really newsworthy.
good to see that allies in that part of the world can operate together.
At least he knows what a carrier should look like when fully loaded…. I can just imagine the yank saying look sir that’s what your ships should look like..
If we had an American sized economy and defence budget.
Let us start with an American % defence budget?
In 2024, the US defense budget was approximately 3.4% of its GDP.
You know the standard UK defense budget whining is getting a little old.. you just promised to basically double it and no one has seen anything of it.. 3 years of European war and the UK has done. Essentially nothing to upgrade defense other than the most rudimentary things… Let’s just stop bitching about the US for a little bit.
Frankly, this is an ill-timed comment.
There just so happens to be a lot to bitch about in the USA at present.
No, the US deserves a lot worse than being Bitched about right now.
And Europe/UK deserve what?
The US is saving your continent, not the other way around.
I would argue that the UK which has displayed excellent leadership in stiffening both Europe and the US in respect of support for Ukraine.
In what way? Europe has contributed more to Ukraine than the US.
While Europe with smaller nations miss some enablers they more than match Russia. Im quite interested in what way the US is saving europe. I must have missed that one
Europe has contributed more to Russia than they have to Ukraine. Trump in his first term warned europe to stop relying on russian oil. If they’d listened back then instead of rolling their eyes, russia may not have been able to afford this disaster.