Satellite images indicate that the U.K. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth
has entered the South China Sea.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is presently undertaking its first operational deployment, as part
of Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21), which also includes the Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers
HMS Diamond and HMS Defender, the Type 23 frigates HMS Northumberland and HMS Kent,
an Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (most likely HMS Artful), and two Royal Fleet
Auxiliary support ships, RFA Tideforce and RFA Fort Victoria.
In a statement provided to CNN, a spokesperson from Britain's Ministry of Defense said the
carrier strike group was lawfully navigating the South China Sea, "just as one third of
global shipping does on an annual basis."
This is a significant development and is expected to see an increase in tensions between Britain
and China.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why HMS Queen Elizabeth transit through the South
China Sea is a message to China? Let’s get started.
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China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea. It said that it has "indisputable sovereignty"
over the area. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei,
and Taiwan have disputed these claims.
The wide-reaching demarcation was rejected by an arbitral tribunal at The Hague in July
2016.
The route is significant as about $5 trillion in trade through shipping passes each year.
The sea also has alleged 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
Countries like the US, Japan and India have no claims in the area and want ‘Freedom
of Navigation’ as per international maritime laws.
China has tried imposing a unilateral decision as per which all ships & aircraft navigating
in the area need to identify themselves to the Chinese military.
Chinese Navy has heckled vessels of smaller nations like Vietnam & the Philippines several
times in the last couple of years.
It has militarized several islands in the area and has even deployed advanced missile
systems like YJ-12 Anti Ship Missile as well as HQ-9 Surface to Air missile.
The Queen Elizabeth class is a class of two aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's
Royal Navy. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the lead ship of this class has been commissioned in
2017. The second, HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned on 10 December 2019.
Each will displace 65,000 tons and has a length of 280 m. They will carry around 1,600 personnel
on board.
They are the largest warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy, and the second-largest
non-US Navy warships after the Yamato-class battleships. The cost of the program is £6.2
billion.
HMS Queen Elizabeth has a speed of about 26 knots or 48 km/h and a range of 10,000 nautical
miles or 18,520 km.
The ship's radars include BAE Systems and Thales S1850M for long-range wide-area search
, the BAE Systems Artisan 3D Type 997 maritime medium-range active electronically scanned
array radar, and navigation radar.
BAE claims the S1850M has fully automatic detection and track initiation that can track
up to 1,000 air targets at a range of around 400 km or 250 mi
For self-defense, it has Phalanx CIWS, 30-mm DS30M Mk2 guns and miniguns.
HMS Queen Elizabeth will generally carry 24 F-35B
fighters, as well as 14 Merlin anti-submarine and utility helicopters.
But in wartime, the carrier could carry up to 36 fighters.
It has Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II as its main strike aircraft.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently embarking eight F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing
(STOVL) stealth fighters from the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) and another ten of the same
fighter from U.S. Marines Corps’ Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211.
The F-35 is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters. The
fifth-generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack and air superiority
missions.
The F-35B which is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, is the first to combine
radar-evading stealth technology with supersonic speeds and the ability to work with carriers.
British F-35Bs are armed with several weapons like Meteor, ASRAAM, Paveway IV, SPEAR 3 to
name a few.
Meteor missile is currently considered to be the most potent Beyond Visual Range Air
to Air missile having a range of 150 km or around 93 miles.
The carrier's rotary-wing assets consist of Wildcat HMA2 multirole helicopters, anti-submarine
warfare and airborne early warning and control Merlin HM2 helicopters as well as Commando
Merlin helicopters.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is a modern carrier and its capabilities are surpassed only by American
Nimitz and Ford-class supercarriers. Though the carrier is not nuclear powered,
it still has enough range to project power far away from the British homeland.
The appearance of the British flagship in the South China Sea was known in advance,
but it still carries a significant message as the U.S, United Kingdom and allies look
to challenge China’s expansive territorial claims in this region.
Viewers may note that earlier, the U.S Ministry of Defence has been urged by several British
politicians to send HMS Queen Elizabeth to the South China Sea to stand up to China.
Sometime back French nuclear attack submarine SNA Emeraude conducted a patrol in the South
China Sea.
All these indicate that a major shift is taking place as more and more nations join hands
to challenge China.