UK Carrier Group ends eight-month Indo-Pacific mission

The UK’s 2025 Carrier Strike Group (CSG) returns home this weekend after an eight-month deployment across the Indo-Pacific, wrapping up Operation Highmast with the force formally declared fully operational and ready for NATO duties.

HMS Prince of Wales leads the homecoming, arriving in Portsmouth on Sunday with HMS Dauntless and Norway’s HNoMS Roald Amundsen. HMS Richmond heads for Plymouth, while F-35Bs, Merlins, Wildcats and drones return to their bases across England. Tanker RFA Tideforce docks in Portland, though RFA Tidespring remains deployed.

The deployment involved more than 4,000 UK personnel at its height and saw the CSG operate with 30 nations, visit 12 countries and complete over 2,500 aviation sorties. Ships and aircraft covered more than 40,000 nautical miles, spending roughly half the deployment east of Suez.

Commodore James Blackmore, who commanded the group, said the task force returns “stronger for NATO than it departed” and credited those who built up Carrier Strike to this point. He highlighted the declaration of full operating capability as the major milestone of 2025, calling it proof that the Queen Elizabeth-class carrier and F-35B force is now a mature front-line capability.

HMS Richmond’s Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander James Callender, said he “could not be prouder” of his ship’s work, from enforcing UN resolutions in the Yellow Sea to high-level engagement across the region.

The deployment’s signature achievements included operating with nine other carrier groups, UK F-35Bs landing on four foreign carriers, hosting 28 VVIPs, and welcoming more than 4,000 registered visitors. Eighty-two British companies used the task group for export activity, with officials estimating more than £17 billion in potential economic impact.

Across the force, the air wing reached a scale not previously achieved by a UK carrier: 24 fifth-generation jets at peak. Other milestones included the first F-35B landing on the Japanese carrier Kaga, the first UK-India dual-carrier exercise, and the first UK carrier group visit to Australia since 1997. HMS Prince of Wales became the first carrier to berth at cruise terminals in Tokyo and Singapore, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the first premier in a generation to stay overnight aboard a Royal Navy warship.

For Norway, Highmast marked a historic voyage: HNoMS Roald Amundsen sailed farther east than any previous Norwegian warship and visited India, Japan and Singapore while operating with a UK Wildcat helicopter embarked.

Commander Nick Smith, leading 809 Naval Air Squadron on its first operational deployment, said the squadron delivered everything asked of it, from cross-deck flying with US, Italian and Japanese carriers to major exercises such as Talisman Sabre. He described his team as “incredibly proud” to have helped deliver Carrier Strike’s full operating capability.

Logistics and support units notched their own firsts. Drones from 700X carried out uncrewed resupply missions between ships, and the CSG supported UN sanctions enforcement on North Korea, NATO security tasks in the Mediterranean, and extensive diplomacy and industry outreach across Asia.

Personnel also encountered the more human side of deployment: international sports fixtures, visits to major cities and cultural sites, traditional naval ceremonies, and a remembrance service over the wreck of the wartime HMS Prince of Wales in the South China Sea.

As Petty Officer James Smith of HMS Richmond put it, the deployment provided tough professional challenges and unusual personal perks. “Professionally, Highmast has been fantastic,” he said. “Personally, the chance to play golf all over the world has been a real highlight.”