The English Channel
Air group assembles
The Royal Navy 2025 Carrier Strike Group is ready to fly with a bevy of fast jets, helicopters, and drones now on deck.
HMS Prince of Wales and her carrier group set out from Portsmouth in April and spent two days embarking at air bases along the southern coast of England.
From RAF Marham in Norfolk, 809 Naval Air Squadron and 617 Squadron RAF join the group with no less than 18 F-35B Lightnings. A further six stealth fighters will join the carrier at a later date.
Anti-submarine and airborne surveillance and control capabilities are led by 16 Merlin Mk2s and Wildcat maritime attack helicopters, while several Malloy and Puma drone flights will be deployed for supplies missions and surveillance and reconnaissance.
Captain Colin McGannity, Commander Air Group, leads the roughly 750 personnel who will fly, choreograph, maintain and operate the aircraft throughout the 7 and a half–month operation.
With more than three dozen aircraft now embarked, CSG25 is already this century’s most powerful deployment of UK airpower at sea, proving the Royal Navy’s readiness to respond and its commitment to global stability.
.jpg?mw=220&rev=7c827b5e7f8644638c41c5454f559e06)
.jpg?h=1190&iar=0&w=2000&rev=372d46d118a74a10a5bcbaba66294d6c&hash=B836948D94FE4E1783890162FD3FBA59)