UK’s Carrier Strike Group Faces Its First Test

The HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is currently at sea in Europe’s largest exercise, with UK and U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighters on board.

The Carrier Strike Group sails in Scottish waters. The activities of a Dutch frigate and U.S. destroyer are fully integrated with those of six Royal Navy vessels to form a Combined Joint Task Force. (Photo: LPhot Belinda Aker/Royal Navy)

By David Donald • Contributor - UK

October 9, 2020

The UK’s Royal Navy (RN) has assembled its full Carrier Strike Group (CSG) for the first time, in advance of undertaking its first operational deployment from May next year. The CSG has been brought together to participate in the two-week Joint Warrior exercise—NATO’s largest—held off the coast of northwest Scotland, and follows a busy 2020 of work-ups by the 65,000-tonne carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its air wing.

The carrier lies at the heart of the CSG, which also includes eight other surface vessels. They comprise two Type 45 destroyers, HMS Diamond and HMS Defender, two Type 23 frigates, HMS Kent and HMS Northumberland, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS The Sullivans, and the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS Evertsen from the Royal Netherlands Navy. The royal fleet auxiliary ships Fort Victoria and Tideforce are in support. Along with at least one submarine, these vessels will form the initial operational CSG.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.