Thread: Britain to permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters

Britain said on Tuesday it would permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters after its Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and escort ships sail to Japan in September through seas where China is vying for influence with the United States and Japan.


Plans for the high-profile visit by the carrier strike group come as London deepens security ties with Tokyo, which has expressed growing alarm in recent months over China's territorial ambitions in the region, including Taiwan.

"Following on from the strike group's inaugural deployment, the United Kingdom will permanently assign two ships in the region from later this year," Britain's Defence Minister Ben Wallace said in a joint announcement in Tokyo with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi.

After their arrival in Japan, Kishi said, the Queen Elizabeth and its escort ships would split up for separate port calls to U.S. and Japanese naval bases along the Japanese archipelago.


A close U.S. ally, Japan hosts the biggest concentration of U.S. military forces outside the United States, including ships, aircraft and thousands of marines.


The British carrier, which is carrying F-35B stealth jets on its maiden voyage, will dock at Yokosuka, the home of Japan's fleet command and the USS Ronald Reagan, the only forward deployed US aircraft carrier.


The British ships will not have a permanent base, a spokesperson at the British embassy in Tokyo said when asked which ports the Royal Navy ships would operate from.


The Queen Elizabeth is being escorted by two destroyers, two frigates, two support vessels and ships from the United States and the Netherlands.


It will come to Japan through the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by China and South East Asian countries, with stops in India, Singapore and South Korea.


In a further sign of Britain's growing regional engagement, Wallace, who traveled to Japan with a delegation of military commanders, said Britain would also eventually deploy a Littoral Response Group, a unit of marines trained to undertake missions including evacuations and anti-terrorism operations.


Britain to permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters - The Economic Times

Combined forces. The CCP is a paper tiger.

Well done Japan, that sends a big fuck you to the chinky cartoon clowns from last week.

Originally Posted by bsnub

Combined forces. The CCP is a paper tiger.

In unity there is strength far beyond Chinas' strategic long range capability providing: The French can remember the difference between charge and retreat. The British can get their warships equipped with transgender toilets in time, the italians can learn a little more english other than surrender and take me to your linguini, the germans can get their navy installed with solar powered engines in time and the Japanese navy doesnt get distracted and start killing whales "for scientific purposes"on the way.

Probably a few allied nuclear submarines who will not get the same shore leave allowance afforded the surface vessels.

Originally Posted by Switch

a few allied nuclear submarines

...not to mention the proposed Thai sub fleet...

Originally Posted by tomcat

...not to mention the proposed Thai sub fleet...

The proposed purchase of defunct Chinese submarines made Prayeuth so unpopular that he decided to shelve the idea and blame COVID-19.

Buying stuff past it’s sell by date, with no support for training, maintenance and munitions is the Argentines job anyway. Even if they could afford to fuel them, they were not allowed to dive, because submerging them was found to cause leaks!