Talking of which, when is the next ASW exercise (such as
Deep Blue (in 2014 - nine Merlin HM2 aboard HMS
Illustrious plus another aboard
Westminster) or
Deep Blue II (in 2016 - with
Ocean and a mixed group of aircraft)?
I find it annoying that the website does not press home the point that ASW is a carrier role - task group ASW means constantly having helicopters airborne, which means you need a big deck. ASW might be needed for say an LPD, or Crisis Response Shipping. Sadly there was no other HVA acting as the unit to be protected in those exercises. However, a pair of 2087/Merlin equipped Type 23s provided ASW for an American LHD during
Trident Juncture last year, the same time as WESTLANT 19 and
Saif Sareea III with Oman, with routine tasks continuing in the background.
The RN will be deploying a carrier based task group, instead of one centred around amphibious forces. The two can and do exist together. If all the ships committed to exercises in Norway and Oman were together, it starts to look like a capable task group. One that could do with carrier based ASW and air defence.
The UK has committed a carrier to the NATO response force. We have also agreed to provide ASW capabilities. In December last year, the
Human Security Centre said:
The UK’s Royal Navy should take the lead in any early effort to counter offensive Russian submarine operations via a multi-national task group centred upon one of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
The full report is
here.
The fact that we were able to reinforce our presence in the Gulf in fairly short time should say something (like being able to deploy in response to other crises elsewhere), however building an extra Type 45 or two is not going to be practical, neither will building more SSNs as were are now committed to building news SSBNs with those construction facilities.
The idea that the
Stena Impero was seized by the Iranians due to the carrier meaning the Gulf was not full of RN frigates/destroyers is just plain dumb.
The tanker only gave the RN an hour's notice of a Strait of Hormuz transit.