The UK will deploy its HMS Prince of Wales-led aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic under Operation Firecrest, reinforcing NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission amid rising Russian naval activity and growing security concerns in the region.
The UK will send its aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic later this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Saturday, citing rising security concerns in northern Europe.
“I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include Royal Navy warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed “Operation Firecrest,” the ministry of defence said in a statement.
It will be a “powerful show of force … to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure”.
The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from all three services of the Armed Forces, the MoD statement added.
“The deployment will include activity under NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance’s security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity,” the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be “ready to fight”.
Leaders must not dither as “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression,” he said.
“The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he added.
“We must be able to deter aggression , and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
It added that “over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters”.
US President Donald Trump has also unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Starmer also stressed the need to build “hard power” and be ready to fight if necessary, speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference aimed at bolstering European defence and diplomatic ties.
“We are not at a crossroads today, the road ahead is straight, and it is clear we must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he said, following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s opening remarks.
“We must be able to deter aggression, and yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight, to do whatever it takes to protect our people, our values and our way of life and, as Europe, we must stand on our own two feet.”
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