Details remain unclear on the UK contribution to NATO Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) following the emergency deployment of HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean.
Responding to questions from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty about the deployment of the Type 45 destroyer to Cyprus, Defence Minister Al Carns confirmed that the ship was sent to the region following Iranian missile activity. “As the Chief of Defence Staff has said, following Iran’s reckless retaliation, he recommended last Tuesday that HMS Dragon should be deployed,” Carns said. “Ministers then signed this off immediately.”
He added that the destroyer would remain deployed as long as operationally required.
“HMS Dragon will be armed with the necessary available capabilities to meet the operational need and will remain in the region for as long as required to meet our objectives,” Carns said.
Obese-Jecty also asked which Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer would replace HMS Dragon in its role with NATO’s Standing Maritime Group One following the deployment.
In response, Carns did not identify a replacement vessel and instead referred the MP to a previous parliamentary answer. That earlier response outlined how NATO’s standing naval forces operate but did not specify the current UK contribution to the group.
“The Standing Naval Forces are under the control of NATO Allied Maritime Command which responds to Allied Command Operations,” Carns said in that earlier answer. “This multinational, integrated force is continuously available for tasking, ranging from NATO missions to exercise participation.”
Standing NATO Maritime Group One is one of the alliance’s four permanent multinational maritime task groups, designed to provide a ready naval force able to respond rapidly to crises, conduct exercises and support allied operations. The group normally includes a mix of destroyers, frigates and support vessels contributed by NATO member states on a rotational basis.
With most of the French fleet already committed to policing the Med along with the Spanish and the Italians oh yes I forgot the Greeks, I would think the head of Nato would be saying to our Defence department that they need to get some ships and subs to sea right about now. Also with the repatriation of our last mine hunter from the region along with the fact that America has little to no mine hunting ability in the area I would have thourght that our new automatous mine hunting drones might be getting a baptism of fire some time soon as the Iranians have some 3000 sea mines (that we know about) and has reportedly started to deploy a few already. Just wondering which ship will be acting as mother to our mine hunting autonomous fleet, one of the bays, or Sterling castle either way they are going to need protection maybe anouther T45.
So maybe the boat trips around Portsmouth and Plymouth will stop for a time as there will be no ship to look at.
Hms Duncan is due for it’s PIP upgrade soon. So Hms Daring needs to be worked up fast, as extra T45 deployed to the M.E.
Yes, Daring is very much needed, Defender should be out of Refit later this year too 😊.
NATO will start to feel the strain in a few months.. essentially France is deploying its entire AAW destroyer fleet and the bulk of its frigate fleet in one go.. this will mean at some point the La Royale will have to pack up go home and do almost nothing for a while..
If as reported its deployed 2 AAW destroyers and 6 frigates ( its destroyers are often classed and reported as frigates..which is I think where the 8 has come from) that’s 100% of its AAW fleet and 50% of its frigate fleet deployed all at one time on essentially combat ops.. as well as 100% of its carrier force and 66% of its amphibious forces..
Don’t get me wrong it’s a remarkable achievement.. but it’s massive risk, because in say 3-6 months time the entire french navy is going home and spending a long time doing nothing but regenerating.
That’s not how a surge works. Many of these ships would be at sea anyway or on alert. That leaves plenty of room to surge for 2-3 months and then return to a normal operational tempo without a massive stand-down… they’d be daft to wait 6 months and burn out every crew before starting to cycle ships in and out.
For example, the carrier and its escorts deployed in late January so were already planned to be at sea until the summer. Likewise the amphibious group (1 LHD + 1 frigate) deployed mid-Feb also for a planned deployment till June. These deployments could be extended a little if need be, but more likely they will come home so that crews can take their summer leave and then the ships will return to their normal cycle of alert/maintenance/NATO exercises etc. Meanwhile many of the ASW frigates are double crewed and can swap crews and continue their deployments. The remaining escorts will be on various cycles and some will surge for a short time then return home, while some of the ships in Toulon & Brest will come out of maintenance.
Lastly, the point of a navy is to be used. If they aren’t ready for this crisis, what’s the point in spending billions on your fleet? There may be some tough decisions to be made if the world is at war in August/September, Ormuz still closed and these ships are still needed East of Suez… but right now their proper place is at sea.
I pointed this out the other day, in response to the criticism about the RN. It is wiser I think to hold something back.
I would have liked to have seen the carrier and a couple of escorts to be honest.. but that would be the max effort.. the La Royale are going to cripple their deployments for the whole year doing this max effort…
I think the EU are trying to prove something..what with Cyprus having the presidency of the council of Europe… but it’s very high risk because the French are essentially trying to do three things at once..
1)Show the EU can put significant force in place against a threatened member.
2) cover the French responsibility around Lebanon with an amphibious group
3) having increased presence in operation ASPIDES
4) having an amphibious group of the coast of west Africa
That’s 3 battle groups and a large surface action group.. all from a navy with 2 AAW destroyers, 8 high end frigates and 5 second rate frigates…
Would be interesting to know what the French are doing regarding Lebanon, considering its being demolished in several areas and hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the outside it appears they are unable to do anything.
Being ready to evacuate there. Nationals if there is a ground war.
HMS Victory is having its timber replacement speeded up to ready for deployment to the Arctic region… Seriously, we need to let the French get on with it. Our resources need to stay in the north, a token presence is just window dressing for media and the Orange Fool.
Still a very impressive effort compared to the RN precisely when it matters, and one that its gaining a lot of favourable international attention. Macron won’t care if the MN cant put a canoe to sea next year if the crisis is over and he and France has emerged as the clearly the dominant European naval power, whilst the UK’s reputation is greatly diminished.
There are a couple of tugs knocking about somewhere I expect…
Having a look at today’s RN ‘max effort’ I’m afraid it is terrible
5 type 23 still on the books
Iron Duke refit/maintain
Kent refit
Portland active
Somerset active
Sutherland active
St Albans active
One of these will have to be on TAPS so we have a max of 3 frigates to cover everything else
Type 45
Dragon active deployed
Duncan active but due PIP
Daring refit/maint for 6 years crew now joined
Diamond refit PIP
Defender refit since Jul 2023
Dauntless refit PIP
Attack Submarines
Anson deployed to Australia
Astute refit
Ambush inactive since 2022
Artful inactive since 2023
Audacious inactive since 2024
Agamemnon in trials
Achilles in build
RFA Tankers
Tidespring active
Tidesurge active
Tideforce refit
Tiderace inactive
Stores support ship
Fort Victoria inactive
Any talk of sailing a carrier strike group into a hot zone with these threadbare assets is wrong.
We need (the political leaders and the general public) to fully understand how weak we are militarily and not bang on about sending ships (what ships) to the Med/Middle East
The carrier was never going to leave, it was a total miscalculation by Starmer to try and look like he was ready and willing to participate, it failed miserably.
Your post says it all. Mike many congrats.
The CNS needs to explain the shambles of the Attack Submarine force in public.
Can we now be certain that the RN can even guarantee a deterrent boat at sea at all times…I do wonder….
The CAS needs to spell out the actual fighting strength ac wise if the RAF , unless one of our readers can do what Mike has done for the RN.
Not worth doing for the poor old Army as quite frankly, it is broken….
How did it come to this?
Answers on a postcard please to Secretary of State for Defence…..
Hms Dauntless was the first T45 to get PIP, and had a refit. In maint. I would say.
I stand corrected Dauntless status should be maint
Incredible how the Chileans are keeping the former RN T23’s sea worthy? One of them is over 35 years old. Maybe using magic paint!
How did it come to this? – Easy, David Cameron and George Osborne. They left us a lot of gifts that will keep on giving for years to come.
What do you expect when handed a bankrupt country? How hollowed out do you think its going to get when this shower are out and someone has to piece together the uncalculated mess they leave? Its virtually impossible to fix now and we have years more of total financial suicide.