Special delivery: Commandos practise fast-roping onto HMS Prince of Wales

Personnel on CSG25 have proved that what goes down, can also go up in a series of fast-roping and extraction exercises.

Royal Marines from 42 Commando practised their fast-roping skills from Wildcat and Merlin helicopters onto the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales.

While the Commandos were roping down, maritime snipers provided overwatch from an 845 Squadron Merlin Mk4.  

• Carrier Strike Group meets up with the Indian Navy in the western Arabian Sea
• HMS Dauntless keeps deck gun ready and Wildcat armed with Martlet missiles
• RFA Tidespring refuels New Zealand frigate during Carrier Strike Group deployment

Meanwhile, personnel aboard HMS Richmond went in the opposite direction, being extracted at pace into a Merlin flying overhead.

The Carrier Strike Group being the Royal Navy's key deployment of 2025.

Led by the flagship HMS Prince of Wales and involving a dozen nations, the eight-month mission - known as Operation Highmast - will take the task group to the western Pacific Rim via the Mediterranean and Middle East with a series of large-scale exercises with Britain's allies and partners.

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

Over the course of the deployment, upwards of 4,500 British military personnel will be involved.

This includes nearly 600 RAF personnel and 900 soldiers alongside 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.

For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here.