As Exercise Strike Warrior 24 begins, the Royal Navy has released a series of excellent images showcasing HMS Prince of Wales and its air wing’s preparations for the occasion.
Taking the place of the usual Autumn edition of Exercise Joint Warrior, Exercise Strike Warrior 24, which began on Oct. 14, 2024, is focused around the concept of carrier strike, with aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and her air wing of F-35B Lightning IIs spearheading the drills ahead of a long planned deployment next year.
Marking 809 Naval Air Squadron’s first time at sea with the F-35, a large amount of the ship’s preparations for Strike Warrior 24 have consisted of intensive carrier qualification training for the squadron’s pilots, as well as familiarisation with at-sea practices for the ground crews. Personnel from the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron have deployed alongside 809 NAS on board the ship and the eight jets will be pooled between the two units, as they are on land.
Staff from the Royal Navy’s highly regarded Fleet Operational Sea Training (formerly known as, and still sometimes referred to as, Flag Officer Sea Training) unit, known as FOST, deployed to the carrier via Chinook helicopter on Oct. 5 to manage training drills and assess the ship’s company’s performance.
The exercise
Joining the Prince of Wales on Exercise Strike Warrior 24 is a formidable fleet of UK and allied warships and aircraft. Royal Navy warships assigned to the carrier include Type 23 frigates HMS Portland and HMS Iron Duke and Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless. An Astute class nuclear-powered submarine, likely HMS Astute though officially unspecified, is also protecting the carrier group. In the support role is the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tidespring.
Royal Norwegian Navy supply ship HNoMS Maud, which is of a similar design to the UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tide class tankers and will accompany HMS Prince of Wales on the CSG25 deployment next year, is also taking part to the exercise. HNoMS Maud forms part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, which for this exercise also comprises HNLMS Van Amstel, BNS Louise Marie, FGS Magdeburg, and NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida.
Five ships assigned to #SNMG1 crossed the River Clyde in Scotland recently. 🇧🇪🇳🇱🇵🇹🇩🇪
These ships are heading into the Northern Atlantic to support Exercise #StrikeWarrior. #WeAreNATO #StrongerTogether #NATO pic.twitter.com/ygyLILeAPF
— NATO Maritime Command (@NATO_MARCOM) October 15, 2024
Maritime patrol aircraft from Germany and France have deployed to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland to play their role in the exercise, working alongside the RAF P-8 Poseidon MRA1 fleet stationed at the same base.
As the two naval fleets face simulated threats on, below and above the water, the ultimate goal will be to support HMS Prince of Wales’ F-35Bs as they conduct long range strike drills into Europe. To properly prepare crews for emerging technologies, the ships will come under attack by both manned and unmanned platforms.
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, is the senior officer in charge of Exercise Strike Warrior 24. He said: “The UK’s Carrier Strike Group is the 1* battle staff that commands the fleet embarked on HMS Prince of Wales. I have command of highly capable assets and personnel, which provide a powerful capability across all domains from anti-air to cyber. This exercise is important because it will validate my team as a “Very High Readiness” force, which means we can be ready to command a fleet with a few days’ notice. This is all in preparation for next year’s exercise across which will see us traverse the globe to achieve.”
He further noted that “Exercise Strike Warrior is an important milestone for 809 NAS, being the Squadron’s first return to sea since the Falklands conflict and an important stepping stone in developing our Initial Operational Capability.”
For the ground crews deployed as part of the air wing, adapting to the unique operating environment at sea is a vital lesson to learn when deploying aboard a ship. While the Royal Navy does maintain a flight deck simulation facility at RNAS Culdrose, complete with replica F-35s, this can only provide a part of the full experience.
Additional steps have to be taken while maintaining the airframes due to the corrosive salty air and sea spray, and one must always be conscious of the limited space provided by even a large carrier deck like those of the Queen Elizabeth class. While a small ground handling or procedural error at an airfield might result in an aircraft’s wheel sinking into the mud, a similar error at sea could mean damage to or irretrievable loss of an airframe.
While the Royal Navy’s Merlin force has returned to flight following the tragic incident in September, helicopter support tasks for the Prince of Wales CSG so far appear to have been assigned to Wildcat helicopters. The official Royal Navy press release for Strike Warrior does mention the participation of Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopters, so it is possible that they may join in the coming days, or are detached to the carrier’s escorts and have not been photographed. As well as the anti-submarine role, the Merlin HM2 is responsible for providing the UK CSG’s airborne early warning capability, so it is a vital part of the air wing.
Last but not least, an often under-recognised component of a ship’s company are the photography and media team. Not only responsible for taking and distributing all of these images for media use and public relations, they also can be called upon to capture important documentary photographs for investigations into incidents, engineering faults and security breaches. Intelligence specialists also rely on the photographers’ skills to cleanly capture images for analysis of ships, aircraft and other assets that approach UK waters or military forces.
The Truman
A possible surprise participant in Ex Strike Warrior 24 has emerged in recent days – the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group transited the English Channel toward the North Sea on Oct. 14. Centered on the Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), the CSG also features the Arleigh Burke class destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55) and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) and Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).
The Truman is currently home to Carrier Air Wing One (CVW 1) with F/A-18 Super Hornet Squadrons VFA-11, VFA-81, VFA-136, and VFA-143, EA-18G Growler squadron VAQ-144, E-2D Hawkeye squadron VAW-126, and MH-60 Seahawk squadrons HSC-11 and HSM-72. A detachment of C-2A Greyhounds from VRC-40 provides the carrier on-board delivery capability.
Staying True to the Mission. ⚓️🫡
USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), USS Gettysburg (CG 64) ,and The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group transits the Strait of Dover, Oct. 14, for the North Sea where the strike group will conduct operations with Allies and partners.
📸: MC3 Mike Shen pic.twitter.com/5oThu9kjac
— SURFLANT (@surflant) October 15, 2024
Whether the Truman CSG will officially join the exercise or not is unknown, but it seems unlikely that the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy would pass up an opportunity to conduct at the very least a photo exercise, or PHOTEX, featuring two aircraft carriers in the North Sea as they have done previously.
Exercise Strike Warrior 24 will run until Oct. 27, 2024.
