The Chinese military honed submarine-hunting skills as the United Kingdom assembled an aircraft carrier-led naval strike group, which included a submarine, for a Pacific deployment.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for further comment by email.
Why It Matters
The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales commenced Operation Highmast on April 22, an eight-month mission in the Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia. The strike group consists of warships from the British and other NATO navies.
U.K. Ministry of Defense
This marks the second Pacific mission of a British carrier strike group since 2021, when HMS Queen Elizabeth, the sister ship of the Prince of Wales, was deployed with its own strike group, which included a nuclear-powered attack submarine escort.
During the Queen Elizabeth‘s deployment in the South China Sea, where China has claimed sovereignty over most of the waters, Beijing accused London of being the “real source of militarization” in the region by sending its warships “thousands of kilometers from home.”
What To Know
The Prince of Wales and its strike group, which includes several warships from the Royal Navy, Canada, Norway, and Spain, were spotted transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a strategic waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean, on Tuesday.
The U.K.-led multinational fleet is scheduled to conduct a series of exercises and operations with a dozen countries during this global deployment, reaffirming London’s commitment to the security of the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific region, a Royal Navy press release said.
Prior to entering the Mediterranean, the British aircraft carrier joined the majority of its strike group, including a Royal Navy Astute-class submarine, HMS Astute. The submarine was spotted surfacing for photographs with the strike group off the coast of Portugal on Monday.
Specialist outlet Navy Lookout, which focuses on the Royal Navy, said images of British submarines at sea are increasingly rare. The Astute was part of the strike group led by the Queen Elizabeth four years ago, demonstrating the flexibility and reach of such a submarine.
U.K. Ministry of Defense
The Astute-class will consist of the Astute and its six sister ships. These are the largest, most advanced, and most powerful British attack submarines, the Royal Navy said, capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike targets on the ground 1,000 miles away.
Meanwhile, the Chinese military‘s media wing on Monday released a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing two anti-submarine patrol aircraft taking part in a training exercise.
The aircraft are assigned to the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, which is responsible for securing the South China Sea and responding to foreign navies’ freedom of navigation operations, the Pentagon said in its Chinese military power report.
What People Are Saying
The Royal Navy said: “Over the course of the deployment [of the Carrier Strike Group], upwards of 4,500 British military personnel will be involved, including nearly 600 [Royal Air Force] and 900 soldiers alongside 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.”
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said: “As one of only a few nations capable of leading a deployment of this scale, the Royal Navy is once again demonstrating that U.K. defense is strong, modern, and ready to meet the threats of today and tomorrow.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether the British carrier strike group will team up with the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz while operating in the Western Pacific Ocean. The Nimitz was underway in the waters east of the Philippines as of Monday, official photos show.
