UK could deploy carrier to plug gap in Red Sea defences, says Armed Forces Minister

The UK could deploy an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea as the threat from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continues, the Armed Forces Minister has suggested.

James Heappey said sending a Royal Navy carrier to the region would help "plug a gap in US deployments" when the USS Dwight D Eisenhower returns to the United States.

The UK has already engaged in a series of air strikes on Houthi targets in cooperation with the US, while the warship HMS Diamond is also stationed in the Red Sea to protect shipping in the key trade route.

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In an interview with The House magazine, Mr Heappey said: "There’s no real need for more carrier mass, for more carriers to be in the region than the Ike [USS  Dwight D Eisenhower] can provide.

"She’s a very capable ship.

"So our judgment was that with the Ike on station ... and with jets available from Akrotiri [RAF base in Cyprus] that we were able to meet the challenge as it is now."

However, he indicated that the Royal Navy could step in "when the Eisenhower goes home, if we were needed to plug a gap in US deployments, or if the situation deteriorates and we need more".

He added: "The fact is the Eisenhower can’t stay there forever.

"And so there’s a thing about just maintaining a carrier presence in the region where we might cooperate with the Americans to provide a capability there."

Both of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are currently at their home port of Portsmouth.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is preparing to lead a UK Carrier Strike Group for Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 – one of Nato’s largest military exercises in Europe since the Cold War.

While HMS Prince of Wales only returned from her landmark deployment to the east coast of the United States in December.

In response to Mr Heappey's suggestion, an MOD spokesperson said: "As the Minister set out, any decision as to whether to deploy the carriers will be made in conjunction with our allies and based on operational need."

Speaking earlier on Radio 4's Today programme, former defence secretary Ben Wallace, said: "An aircraft carrier such as HMS Queen Elizabeth or Prince of Wales has the might and the capability to deploy.

"It will probably rely on an international escort, it won’t just be British escorts, to be able to do its job.

"And it could effectively be on station to do that - and that is one of the purposes of the aircraft carrier."