British Carrier Strike Group To Visit Japan in 2025
The UK’s Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that a Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group is to visit Japan in 2025 as part of the flagship 2025 Indo-Pacific deployment. The deployment was announced on Shapps’s visit to the Japanese Yokosuka Naval Base, Shapps commenting:
‘The strength and global reach of the UK’s Armed Forces should never be underestimated. The Carrier Strike Group 2025 is another tangible example of our ability to deploy globally… Such deployments send a strong deterrence message while presenting important opportunities for engagements with key partners. Japan is our closest security partner in Asia and the task group’s visit to the country will only serve to strengthen our military and diplomatic ties.’
The Carrier Group will consist of an aircraft carrier, its escorts and aircraft, which will work alongside their Japanese counterparts helping to bolster stability in the Indo-Pacific region. This is not the first time a British Carrier Group has been sent to Japan, an inaugural deployment was made in 2021. With Royal Navy ships already having a permanent presence in the area with HMS Spey and Tamar operational in the region. Both vessels are River-class offshore patrol ships that were produced by BAE Systems Naval Ships and commissioned in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
The carrier’s air wing will have a number of Lockheed Martin F-35B Lighting combat aircraft at its disposal. Along with this the group can consist of submarines, warships and support vessels. Offering a high level of versatility and combat capability in air, surface and underwater defense. Along with working with their partners from other allied navies. In 2021 the task group led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the Royal Navy’s fleet flagship vessels made a 55,000 nautical miles, from the East Atlantic to Japan.