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Royal Navy’s relationship with Japan goes from strength to strength
1 November 2024
The Royal Navy’s presence in the Indo-Asia Pacific was on the agenda as Rear Admiral Rob Pedre travelled to Japan for a series of high-level talks.
The Admiral, who is Commander UK Strike Force, also talked about next year’s Carrier Strike Group deployment, led by aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
Opportunities for greater collaboration between the RN and the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force were also discussed as Japan is a partner in the F35-B Lightning programme.
HMS Prince of Wales has just completed Exercise Strike Warrior, one of the final milestones in the preparation of the Strike Group to undertake a global deployment to the Indo-Pacific region next year. Currently patrol ships HMS Spey and HMS Tamar are both forward deployed in the region.
Admiral Pedre met with the Chief of Staff of the JMSDF, Admiral Akira Saito and Chief of Staff of Japan’s Air Self Defence Force, General Hiroaki Uchikura. He also visited Commander US Seventh Fleet Headquarters in Yokosuka, the largest of the US Navy’s forward-deployed fleets, and held talks with Vice Admiral Fred Kacher, commander of the Seventh Fleet. The pair discussed both the Carrier Strike Group deployment and the Royal Navy’s participation in this year’s Globally Integrated Wargame and Fleet Synthetic Training in the USA.Admiral Pedre’s visit to Tokyo came as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK would expand the Royal Navy’s presence in the Indo-Pacific, including a greater breadth of joint patrols with Pacific Island nations, to reinforce maritime security, respond to natural disasters and combat illegal fishing.
Earlier this year the Royal Navy ran its first ever counter illegal fishing patrols in the Pacific, mounted jointly with New Zealand and Fiji. The Royal Navy will now extend this offer to other Pacific Island countries to support the sovereignty of small island states and help them to protect vital maritime routes and maritime economies that are the lifeblood of the region.