UK Leads Thousands Of NATO Troops In Major Exercise Off Scottish Coast

29th September 2020

F35-B fighter jets have arrived on HMS Queen Elizabeth to take part in her exercise the way to North East Scotland. HMS Queen Elizabeth has embarked two squadrons of F-35B stealth jets: the UK’s 617 Sqn and US Marine Corps fighter attack squadron 211. With a total of fifteen F-35B’s and eight Merlin helicopters, it’s the largest air group to operate from a Royal Navy carrier in more than thirty years, and the largest air group of fifth generation fighters at sea anywhere in the world. This month’s Group Exercise (GROUPEX) will see HMS Queen Elizabeth joined by warships from the UK, US and the Netherlands, which will accompany HMS Queen Elizabeth on her first global deployment in 2121. However before then, the newly formed Carrier Strike Group will be put through its paces off the North East coast of Scotland as part of Joint Warrior, NATO’s largest annual exercise.

Thousands of sailors, soldiers and airmen and airwomen will next week take part in Exercise Joint Warrior, a major show of NATO’s collective force and capability.

Taking part will be the Royal Navy’s largest and most powerful warship HMS Queen Elizabeth, taking her place at the heart of a UK-led NATO Carrier Strike Group.

With her will be F-35B stealth jets from the UK and US, training together in UK skies for the first time.
Exercise Joint Warrior, taking place for 11 days off the coast of north west Scotland from next Monday, will feature 11 nations combining an overall contribution of over 6,000 personnel, 81 aircraft, 28 ships and two submarines.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said:
Allies and adversaries alike will not fail to take note of the powerful new contribution the UK’s Carrier Strike Group offers NATO when it participates in Exercise Joint Warrior next week.
“With US and UK F-35B jets exercising together over our shoes for the first as part of a group featuring 6,000 personnel from 11 nations, this UK-led exercise underlines the leading role we play in upholding European security through NATO.”

NATO Allies taking part in the exercise are the UK, USA, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, France, Denmark, Norway and Lithuania. NATO Enhanced Opportunity Partner Australia will also contribute.

In order to protect all armed forces personnel and the public, a wide range of mitigations measures have been introduced to reduce the risks posed by the Covid-19 virus.

Exercise Joint Warrior is a UK-led multinational military exercise held twice a year in the spring and autumn that features all three single services of the UK Armed Forces – the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force conducting combined joint operations. It offers a crucial function in training NATO forces for high-readiness deployments on operations, representing a significant pillar of the UK’s leading role in the Alliance.

This autumn’s exercise offers a key step in the development of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) capability. With US Marine Corps F-35B jets and their UK counterparts training embarking on HMS Queen Elizabeth, this is the largest number of aircraft at sea on a British Royal Navy carrier since 1983 and is the largest number of F-35B jets at sea in history.