Spanish and Portuguese Frigates Join As CSG Enters Mediterranean

The U.K. Carrier Strike Group (CSG) headed by HMS Prince of Wales has now entered the Mediterranean Sea on the first leg of its eight-month mission to the Indo-Pacific, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Operation Highmast will take the task group to the western Pacific Rim via the Mediterranean and Middle East, engaging in a series of large-scale exercises with allies and partners en route.

An MoD social media update read: “An eight-month, 4,500-strong task group — supported by NATO and allies — has now entered the Mediterranean and will sail on to the Western Pacific, reaffirming the UK’s commitment to Med & Indo-Pacific security, as well as British trade and industry.”

On the first leg of the journey images of CSG assets were captured from an embarked Wildcat helicopter of 815 Naval Air Squadron.

Our selected image shows submarine HMS Astute in the foreground, sailing alongside Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales. Behind the Royal Navy aircraft carrier can be seen Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, and Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Méndez Núñez, which has just joined the CSG. Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias also left Lisbon on Monday to join up with the CSG.

As part of the eight-month Operation Highmast deployment the CSG is set to participate in Exercise Neptune Strike under NATO command in the Mediterranean, testing high-end maritime strike capabilities. Further exercises and port visits will follow in the Indian Ocean, with partners including the U.S., India, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The CSG will also link up with 19 partner nations for Exercise Talisman Sabre near Australia, visit Japan, train alongside the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, and conduct a port visit to India.

• You can read more details and see more CSG images on the Royal Navy website