After a visit to Japan that marked deepening UK-Japanese defence cooperation, HMS Prince of Wales and the UK-led Carrier Strike Group have begun the return leg of their global deployment. Departing Tokyo on 2 September, the group has continued to conduct a succession of multinational exercises. Chinese forces conducted so-called “constructive kill” missile simulations against […] The post Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group leaves the Pacific and begins exercise with Indian Navy first appea...| Navy Lookout
The Fleet Air Arm’s Wildcat helicopters have achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) with the Sea Venom missile, bringing a modern long-range strike option into front-line service. The weapon can now be carried on global deployments, restoring a capability absent since the retirement of Sea Skua in 2017. Sea Venom has been developed under the Future […] The post Initial Operating Capability declared for Royal Navy Sea Venom anti-ship missile first appeared on Navy Lookout.| Navy Lookout
HMS Prince of Wales has concluded a landmark series of joint operations with the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force in the Philippine Sea, the first time a UK jet has landed on a Japanese warship. The exercise, part of Operation HIGHMAST, brought together four powerful multinational task groups. The 9-day exercise saw the UK Carrier Strike| Navy Lookout - Independent Royal Navy news and analysis
On 12 September, HMS Richmond sailed through international waters that separate China and Taiwan in company with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Higgins. China responded by dispatching air and naval assets to monitor the passage and predictably accused the two nations of "trouble-making and provocation". The Taiwan Strait is just 80 miles wide at its| Navy Lookout - Independent Royal Navy news and analysis
Royal Navy flagship, HMS Prince of Wales, has arrived in Tokyo for a landmark port visit that deepens UK–Japan defence ties. HMS Queen Elizabeth stopped in the Japanese capital in 2021, but the value of the visit was severely limited by COVID restrictions. The visit is the centrepiece defence-diplomacy activity of the deployment and underscores| Navy Lookout - Independent Royal Navy news and analysis