Seeing double: Carrier Strike Group to team up with Italian force on first big test

The ships, aircraft and personnel of Carrier Strike Group 25 are about the face their first big test as they team up with their Italian counterparts.

CSG25, with flagship HMS Prince of Wales at its heart, is on an eight-month mission to the Indo-Pacific and has just arrived off Italy's south coast for Exercise Med Strike.

The strike group is made up of an array of warships, aircraft and the submarine HMS Astute, creating a potent force.

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Exercise Med Strike, which begins on Monday and concludes on Sunday, will bring all the component pieces of the CSG together.

A force of two carrier strike groups, 21 warships, three submarines, 41 fast jets, 19 helicopters, 10 patrol aircraft and more than 8,000 personnel will train together in the waters of the Ionian Sea between Taranto and Sicily.

The Italian navy's Carrier Strike Group – with its own flagship and carrier ITS Cavour at its heart – will join the CSG25 to hone its anti-submarine warfare tactics among other skills.

"This is a major moment in the UK Carrier Strike Group's global deployment," said Commodore James Blackmore, the Commander of CSG25.

"[It] will test our skills alongside Nato allies in a region of fundamental importance to UK security.

"It is with great pride that we begin operations in the Mediterranean. I know UK and allied service personnel on the warships and aircraft of the Strike Group stand ready to deliver.

"Working at the heart of a powerful Nato force sends a strong message and shows clearly the phenomenal capabilities that not only the UK possesses, but the alliance as a whole."

Between now and December, the Carrier Strike Group will conduct a series of exercises and operations with air, sea and land forces of a dozen allies in the Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia.

This is the second deployment of the UK's Carrier Strike Group.

The first, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2021, took place against the backdrop of a world in lockdown due to the Covid pandemic.

This year's mission, known as Operation Highmast, is taking place amid a changed world order and an even more volatile geo-political situation.

The goal is to reaffirm the UK's commitment to the security of the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific region, demonstrate collective resolve with the UK's allies and showcase British trade and industry.

Over the course of the deployment, more than 4,500 British military personnel will be involved, including nearly 600 from the RAF and 900 soldiers alongside 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.