Naval News – Royal Navy River-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) HMS Spey and HMS Tamar have today begun deployment to the Indo-Pacific region to bolster Britain’s presence in the region.

CIMSEC – Despite its limited immediate impact, the significance of this FONOP cannot be overstated. Since the end of the Cold War, very few European nations have taken initiatives to upend their strategic interests in the face of powerful adversaries and have instead been relying on the American security umbrella. A multitude of factors are at play to influence this return to geopolitics in Europe, from the specter of Trump’s alienating policies towards America’s allies and partners, to the advent of a multipolar world. Yet this FONOP and renewed European interest in the Indo-Pacific shows that even a strategically independent Europe will remain a natural partner to America for military cooperation and burden-sharing, not just due to shared economic interests, but also common values.

Newsweek – China’s nuclear-powered submarines may have been using the U.K.’s aircraft carrier group for target practice before intentionally revealing themselves to British warships, a Communist Party newspaper said on Monday.

(Thanks to Alain)

Global Times – A report by a UK media organization recently claimed a UK aircraft carrier strike group that sailed in the South China Sea in late July spotted Chinese nuclear-powered submarines that shadowed it during its voyage, but Chinese military experts said on Monday that the report is not credible, and is aimed at showing off the group’s presence and boasting of the its anti-submarine capability.

War on the Rocks – Post-Brexit Britain has entered a new phase in security policy, one in which the use of its maritime posture as a tool of national statecraft will determine the global nature of its international standing.

War on the Rocks – Why is the Royal Navy sending two of its smallest warships to the world’s largest ocean? The First Sea Lord’s announcement of the Royal Navy’s intention to forward deploy two offshore patrol vessels to the Indo-Pacific has been met with skepticism. Given the region’s sheer size and the growing menace of China within the South China Sea, some argue that a frigate is a better platform for this role. But using a frigate, the work horse of the fleet, for all overseas tasking is akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Each new maritime task needs to be judged on its own merits considering its objectives and operating environment.

UK Defence Journal – The UK will operate two Littoral Response Groups, one deploying to the Euro-Atlantic region and the other deploying to the Indo-Pacific.

Defense News – Five of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers are unavailable for deployment, leaving just one warship in the class capable of operations, defense procurement minister Jeremy Quin acknowledged this week.

(Thanks to Alain)

1945 – Two cheers for Great Britain! Why only two? London merits two cheers because it has accepted that “Global Britain” must play its part in a democratic armada meant to face down aggressors who menace their neighbors while degrading freedom of the sea. 

USNI News – The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (RO8) and its carrier strike group carried out a two-day exercise called Exercise Konkan with the Indian Navy from July 21 to 22 in the Bay of Bengal. The exercise was designed to hone the ability of the two navies to operate together in the maritime domain, according to an Indian Ministry of Defence release. The exercise included anti-submarine warfare, anti-air and anti-surface warfare drills.

Reuters – Britain said on Tuesday it would permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters after its Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and escort ships sail to Japan in September through seas where China is vying for influence with the United States and Japan.

War Zone – HMS Queen Elizabeth joined American and Dutch warships in the Gulf of Aden, an important maritime crossroads.

War Zone – New missiles, and more of them, are set to enhance the Daring class, especially in its vital role of protecting British aircraft carriers.

BBC – More than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships have shadowed a British warship sailing near Crimea.

Aviationist – UK Carrier Strike Group launching F-35B missions in support of Operation Shader from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

USNI News – The tracking data of two NATO warships was faked off the coast of a Russian controlled naval base in the Black Sea while the actual ships were moored 180 miles away.

CIMSEC – This British naval deployment gives both political and operational support to the bigger U.S. efforts in the Indo-Pacific. The unstated rationale is sharing the burden against China. 

War Zone – The last thing Britain seems to need right now is a Royal Yacht, a ship that could be as big of a security risk as it is a national symbol.

BBC – On 20 April, the Royal Navy’s latest nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine, HMS Anson, emerged from a vast construction hall at Barrow-in-Furness, travelled down a slipway and entered the water. All 7,400 tonnes of it. Around 260 miles away in Plymouth, another submarine made its debut that same day. A minnow compared to HMS Anson, this secretive nine-tonne craft may have greater implications for the future of the navy than the £1.3bn nuclear boat. 

War Zone – For the first time, the flagship of the Royal Navy is working with a full-size Amphibious Ready Group.

USNI News – The U.K. plans to have a greater British presence in the Indo-Pacific region, as it adheres to a recent security assessment that calls for a pivot to Asia, the top admiral in the Royal Navy said on Wednesday.

BBC – Two Royal Navy ships are patrolling waters around Jersey and a French patrol vessel is nearby, as fishermen protest over their post-Brexit rights.

USNI News – When the “Wake Island Avengers” of U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 land on the United Kingdom’s aircraft carrier, it will mark the largest-ever deployment of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in the history of the program.

Defense News – The largest fleet of Royal Navy warships to deploy internationally since the 1982 Falklands War is heading to the Indo-Pacific region next month as the British government seeks to raise its presence in the Far East.

War Zone – Her Majesty’s Navy turned down a Merlin equipped with an active electronically scanned radar for a far less cutting-edge solution.