Two Royal Navy warships, HMS Ocean and HMS Bulwark, have conducted a landing exercise off the coast of Cornwall. The vessels were preparing for a NATO exercise “Trident Juncture” in the Mediterranean. It will be the largest NATO exercise held in about 20 years.
HMS Ocean is an amphibious assault ship, the Royal Navy’s sole Landing Platform Helicopter and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force.
HMS Bulwark is the second ship of the Royal Navy’s Albion-class assault ships. She is one of the United Kingdom’s two newest amphibious transport docks designed to put Royal Marines ashore by air and by sea.
Exercise Trident Juncture involves 36,000 personnel from more than 30 Allied and Partner Nations, it will take place throughout Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and also Canada, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Trident Juncture 2015 will demonstrate NATO’s new increased level of ambition in joint modern warfare and is hoped it will show that the alliance has the appropriate capability and capacity to meet present and future security challenges. More than 12 major International Organizations, aid agencies and non-governmental organisations, such as the EU and AU will also participate in the exercise.
Thought this was a satire piece when I read the title!
Invading Cornwall? There ‘ent no big oil fields here! Just pasties and pasty stealin’ seagulls!