UK Ministry of Defence, Spanish and Italian Harriers have been operating from the deck of Britain's HMS Illustrious this month as part of a multi-national naval exercise off Croatia comprising some 35 ships from NATO countries.
Exercise Noble Midas, the largest military exercise to be undertaken in the seas of Croatia, brings together the Naval Forces of 35 NATO and Partnership for Peace countries in order to practice large-scale collaborative working across a range of operations including peace enforcement.
The exercise was also designed to both practice and demonstrate how the strike power of NATO's maritime forces can act as one in a conflict.
HMS Illustrious, an Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier, leads the United Kingdom's Carrier Strike Group and – as NATO's High Readiness Strike Carrier – operated AV8B Harrier Jets from the Spanish 9th Squadron and the Italian Navy during the exercise, demonstrating maritime air power in the form of Air Defence and Strike.
Commanding Officer, Captain Tim Fraser, said: “Being part of such a large exercise brings out the best in our ships and our people. This is what we do! Even though we are used to working together, with common NATO procedures and doctrine, getting such a large force to act as one is hugely rewarding. The multi-national dimension of the embarked aircraft and people adds even more value to the exercise.”
“Bringing together Spanish and Italian Harriers, flying from a UK Carrier, is the perfect example of what NATO can do: it is all about blending different national capabilities to make the whole more than the sum of its parts.”
Aside from the military advantages of this collaborative approach, it sends potent strategic messages and takes NATO maritime cooperation to a new level. Flight Deck Officer Lieutenant John Llewellyn commented: “Noble Midas is yet another display of Illustrious' ability to operate closely with other nations, and I guess that's what makes Carrier aviation so unique.”
Lt Nick Geneux RN, one of Illustrious' officers, added: “You don't have to look any further than the fact that we had a French Fighter Controller directing a United States Marine Corp pilot in a Spanish AV8B Harrier onto a Royal Navy deck to see what we can do when sharing best practice with other nations on a daily basis.”
HMS Illustrious is the Flag Ship of Commodore Tom Cunningham, the Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group. Speaking from onboard Illustrious he said:
“Everyone is rising to the challenge, with professionalism and vigour. This deployment is yet another stepping stone in ensuring that, as custodians of the UK's Strike capability, we continue to move towards the successful roll-out of the next generation of Aircraft Carriers, know as the CVF project.”
Other Royal Navy ships involved in the exercise were HMS York, a Type 42 Air Defence Destroyer, Type 22 Frigate HMS Chatham, HMS Northumberland, submarine HMS Superb and the UK replenishment ship RFA Fort George.
In the first two weeks of October, HMS Illustrious racked up the following flying statistics:
Spain:
AV-8B: 71 deck landings
Italy:
AV-8B: 83 deck landings
SH-3D: 43 deck landings
HH-3: 21 deck landings
EH-101: 8 deck landings
France:
Puma: 8 deck landings
Croatia:
Mi-8 Hip: 16 deck landings
UK:
Merlin: 24 deck landings
Lynx Mk3: 5 deck landings
