Summary and Key Points: The Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, despite previous mechanical issues and costly maintenance, is set to embark on a crucial deployment to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Indo-Pacific.
-Participating in NATO’s “Neptune Strike” and Australia’s Exercise Talisman Sabre, the carrier will train with allies, sending strategic messages to Russia and China.
-The deployment underscores the UK’s maritime commitment amid geopolitical tensions.
-Critics have called for mothballing the troubled ship due to maintenance costs, but continued operations could bolster crew proficiency, boost morale, and demonstrate Britain’s vital role in global security, emphasizing its importance in confronting modern threats.
British Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Needs to Hit the Open Seas
We have reported extensively on the problems with the British Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. Maintaining the ships and keeping them in the water is costly.
There have been mechanical issues and periods when they just languished in port. Some have even called for mothballing one of the carriers to cut costs.
HMS Princes of Wales Aircraft Carrier: Time to Just Rehearse for War
The Royal Navy is undeterred by difficulties and naysayers. The HMS Prince of Wales, a member of the Queen Elizabeth-class, is leaving its homeport in Portsmouth and steaming to the Mediterranean Sea and onward to the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility.
Middle East and Indo-Pacific Deployment
On April 22, the Prince of Wales will hit the waves and lead a strike group of escort ships. There hasn’t been a Queen Elizabeth-class vessel patrol in the Indo-Pacific since 2021, which shows how limited the deployments have been in recent times.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth completed that mission four years ago, and now it is the Prince of Wales’ turn.
Working with NATO Is Paramount
NATO will first employ the Prince of Wales for the “Neptune Strike” exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. The British carrier will interact with other flat-tops and partner with strike groups for invaluable training. This year, NATO has improved operational tempo and worked in more drills to improve combat power.
The alliance must react to naval threats from Russia in the Black Sea and the Yemen-based Houthi terrorists bombarding civilian and U.S. naval shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
After the Mediterranean exercise, the Prince of Wales will continue to the Indian Ocean. It will then make ports of call and rehearse maneuvers with allies from the United States, India, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Huge Australian Exercise Will Send China a Message
Then, it will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia with 19 partner countries while engaging in more than ten training events. This is a significant drill to show the Chinese that the British were instrumental in leading combat operations with numerous allied navies. The exercise comes at a time when China’s navy is also flexing its muscles in maneuvers that come close to Australia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Next, there will be a port visit to India and further interactions with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces Navy. This is another key ally that needs to be further shown, as it can operate with Western maritime forces, especially with carrier flight deck operations and patrolling aircraft.
The British strike group will also bring 900 army soldiers to practice amphibious exercises from vessels escorting the carrier. This will also send a message to China that Britain can field an expeditionary force that can bring violence to enemy shores.
“The deployment, named Operation Highmast, provides an opportunity for the UK’s Armed Forces to conduct a major global deployment and a chance to exercise complex operations alongside partners and allies in the region, with 12 other nations supporting the deployment with ships or personnel,” the Royal Navy said in a news release.
Is This Aircraft Carrier Cursed?
The Prince of Wales has been something of a hard luck carrier. In 2022, the ship “suffered a starboard shaft coupling failure shortly after leaving Portsmouth for trials in the United States.”
The starboard shaft was installed in a misaligned manner, which caused problems and required re-installation. Then, the port shaft had problems, as well as leaks and other mechanical issues.
The HMS Prince of Wales cost the British $4.6 billion pounds—not as much as the U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford supercarrier, which rang in at $13.3 billion—but a pretty penny, nonetheless. This was especially glaring since the British government has dramatically cut its military budgets in the last few years.
The Royal Navy has been pressed for manpower due to recruiting challenges, and maintaining the maintenance requirements costs millions of dollars each year. This has even forced some critics to call for the Royal Navy to mothball the Prince of Wales.
This is a drastic and unnecessary reaction to problems that can be mitigated with proper maintenance care and alleviation of budget issues.
The Royal Navy greatly needs the Prince of Wales. What will help are confidence-building measures, which means training and more training. The crew needs to be highly proficient at their jobs by repeatedly doing them. The command team needs some exercises while working with allies, and the pilots must fly as many missions as possible.
The Prince of Wales has endured some difficulties, but there is no reason to sell or mothball it. These upcoming exercises will likely be successful, and perhaps the hard luck ship will not be that bad. The geopolitical threat environment has changed with an aggressive Russia and China. NATO and East Asian allies must interact with each other and train as much as possible. The Prince of Wales needs to get down to business and build morale for the sailors. The best way to do that is to hit the high seas and conduct carrier aviation operations around the clock.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
