Originally Posted by
WE Branch Fanatic
HMS Prince of Wales departs Portsmouth to lead NATO task force in the Arctic - Royal Navy
The UK’s largest warship has left Portsmouth to lead a NATO task force to the Arctic for the biggest exercises in Norway for 30 years.
Aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales
deploys in her role as NATO’s command ship to Exercise Cold Response, the large-scale Norwegian-led exercises which will see 35,000 troops from 28 nations operate together in the harshest environment.
Prince of Wales
is responsible for leading NATO’s Maritime High Readiness Force – an international task group formed to deal with major global events – and deploys for the first time in that role to Cold Response.
Aboard the carrier are the most senior sea-going staff in the Royal Navy – Commander UK Strike Force, headed by Rear Admiral Mike Utley, who will lead a sizeable task force as part of a galvanized NATO effort for peace and stability in Europe.
Rear Admiral Utley said: “NATO is the cornerstone of the UK defence and our commitment to the alliance is absolute.
“It is a privilege to be the UK Maritime Component Commander as we participate in this Norwegian-led exercise.”
Prince of Wales will be at the head of a powerful maritime task force, which, alongside aircraft and land forces – including Royal Marines Commandos – will show how a unified multilateral force would defend Norway and Europe’s northern flank from a modern adversary.
Then, despite having learnt to use phrases like "defence of the task group", the author of that article then describes all the other task group assets as a ring of steel to defend the carrier, instead of being to achieve sea control and then moving towards the amphibious landing areas. For crying out loud!
Exercise Cold Response 22 Fact Sheet - Norwegian Armed Forces
The three phases of the exercise:
Phase 1: Command of the sea (sea control) ensures that Allies are able to deploy to Norway. Sea control is ensured by the use of naval and air forces.
Phase 2: Air operations to ensure allied deployment. Norwegian troops secure important hubs for reception, and the Norwegian total defence prepares for the receiving allied troops and materiel.
Phase 3: Allied amphibious and land operations. These operations are carried out with the support of air and naval forces.
The carrier based F-35B Lightnings and ASW Merlin HM2s are key to sea control - that is why they are there.
But they're not, are they? They are back at their main bases and the carrier is a glorified and very expensive communications hub!