The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which is in charge of the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG), is due to begin drills with Nato allies in the Mediterranean and will also conduct a series of engagements with NATO and EU countries, through port visits to Greece, Albania, Italy and Spain.
Which begs the question will the carrier or other members of the strike force visit Mallorca?
Earlier last month the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford moored in the Bay of Palma. The warship, the most modern in the US Navy, remained off Mallorca for six days before being deployed to the Caribbean.
The UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) will participate in Exercise Falcon Strike, a large-scale air and maritime exercise where British personnel join forces with Nato allies on an Italian-led exercise.
Exercise Falcon Strike will fully utilise British F-35B fighter jets. Training side by side with the Italian, US and Greek Air Force, they will take part in day and night training scenarios.
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the Carrier Strike Group, said it the period in the Indo-Pacific was a hugely successful. “The upcoming exercises with NATO allies will be a real demonstration of the warfighting readiness of the UK Carrier Strike Group,” he added.
“The eight-month deployment covers over 26,000 nautical miles and engages with 40 nations, reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading European power delivering fifth-generation aircraft and carrier capabilities assigned as a primary contribution to NATO.”
HMS Prince of Wales (R09) is the second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier and the Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy currently under the command of Captain Will Blackett since 2024. Prince of Wales is not fitted with catapults and arrestor wires, and is instead designed to operate STOVL aircraft; the ship is currently planned to carry up to 48 F-35B Lightning II stealth multirole fighters and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare, although in surge conditions the class is capable of supporting 70+ F-35B. The design emphasises flexibility, with accommodation for 250 Royal Marines and the ability to support them with attack helicopters and troop transports up to and larger than Chinook size.
The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier is the eighth HMS Prince of Wales, named after the title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the British monarch. The name was announced at the same time as that of her sister ship Queen Elizabeth. The previous Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese aircraft north of Singapore in December 1941.
The decommissioning of HMS Ark Royal under the SDSR in 2010 led to an unsuccessful campaign for one of the new aircraft carriers to receive that name. Prince of Wales was formally named on 8 September 2017 at Rosyth Dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland by the then-Duchess of Rothesay, now Queen Camilla.