UK unable to deploy Prince of Wales carrier without NATO support

The United Kingdom will not be able to operate the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales without assistance from NATO partners.

The Royal Navy faces shortages of warships, auxiliary vessels and personnel, meaning it would require allied backing to form a full carrier strike group, Sky News reports, citing defence sources.

One source said London “can only support NATO if NATO provides escorts!”

Another added that “it doesn't come as a complete organic UK-only package - like the US could - not without turning off other UK commitments.”

UK Defence Secretary John Healey, during a visit to Italy, insisted that the Prince of Wales would be ready for crisis deployment within 10 days of receiving notice. He stressed that the carrier, which arrived in Naples as part of an eight-month mission, could be used in future NATO operations. The vessel left Portsmouth on April 22 to lead a carrier strike group on its Indo-Pacific deployment.

The £3 billion ($4 billion) carrier can carry up to 24 F-35B fighter jets, 16 Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, and drones.

Healey said, “The UK and the 20 nations that have been part of the carrier strike group over the last eight months, we are ready together to stand up and reinforce global security and global deterrence,” as the Prince of Wales joins the Royal Navy’s other carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The warship, sailing with a Royal Navy destroyer, a frigate and a Norwegian vessel, transited several sensitive regions, including the Red Sea, where tensions run high due to threats from Iranian-backed Houthi militants.

The task group also came within roughly 200 miles of Russia’s coastline en route to Japan.

In the Asia-Pacific, the carrier strike group moved through the South China Sea, with HMS Richmond crossing the Taiwan Strait — a transit that Beijing typically views as provocative.

Throughout the deployment, China, Russia and Iran were expected to monitor the carrier’s movements closely, though it reportedly faced no direct interference.

By Jeyhun Aghazada