Navy ready to send HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales in the Gulf amid Houthi attack on shipping
The UK is preparing to send a aircraft-carrier to the Red Sea to counter drone and missile strikes from Houthi rebels.
The Royal Navy has prepared to replace the USS Dwight D Eisenhower upon its return to America. Houthis have warned of ” a long-term conflict” on one of the world’s most busy shipping lanes.
James Heappey said that on Tuesday, the UK could “cooperate with the Americans” to “plug a hole” in the Red Sea.
Two aircraft carriers are available in the UK that can carry F-35 jet fighters. HMS Prince of Wales would be facing its first combat operation, if deployed. HMS Queen Elizabeth has already been deployed into combat.
Mohamed al-Atifi said on Tuesday that the Iran-backed Houthi force was ready for a long war over the Red Sea. The group has launched drones and missiles against commercial and military ships in the Red Sea since November.
The attacks caused significant delays in global shipping as tankers, container ships, and other vessels were re-routed around Africa, avoiding the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is the entry point into the Red Sea, between Yemen and Djibouti.
Britain and the US launched two rounds joint air attacks on Houthi missile and drone sites using American F/A-18 Super Hornets from USS Eisenhower and RAF Typhoons from a southern Cyprus base.
Heappey, however, said that the US carrier nicknamed “Ike” must return to the US soon. He said that the US carrier, nicknamed “Ike”, must soon return to the United States.
He said Royal Navy carriers can be used when the Eisenhower returns home, if needed to fill a gap in US military deployments.
After weeks of calling for the UK’s £3.1 billion aircraft carrier, both of which are based in Portsmouth, to be deployed.
revealed this month , that HMS Queen Elizabeth wasn’t at optimal readiness for deployment due to a Navy personnel shortage. This had affected RFA Fort Victoria – the solid support vessel that supplies it with ammunition and food while at sea.
Lord West, former First Sea Lord of the UK, said that it was “absolutely incredible” that the UK did not deploy a carrier to provide protection for commercial ships. However, Mr Heappey stated on Tuesday that “there is no real need… to have more carriers in the area than Ike can offer”.
HMS Queen Elizabeth’s sea trial in 2019 was canceled after the ship developed a leak. A defence source stated that both carriers are ready for deployment in the event of a need. The US and UK stressed “interoperability”, after American F-35B aircraft took off from HMS Queen Elizabeth’s deck during Operation Shader, a 2021 campaign against Islamic State.
The source stated that “if we make a final decision, we’ll tailor the package accordingly.”
Each carrier can accommodate up to 36 F-35 jets.
The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Lord Cameron, visited Oman on February 2nd. He is expected to urge stability in response to the Houthi attacks at the Red Sea, and a de-escalation in tensions throughout the Middle East.
Lord Cameron had earlier said that Britain was deciding whether or not to recognize a Palestinian state. Lord Cameron told Arab ambassadors at a London reception that the government had a responsibility to work toward a two state solution which would see an independent Palestinian State coexist with Israel.
He said that the most important thing was to show the Palestinians a clear political horizon, so they could see the irreversible progress towards a two-state settlement and, more importantly, the creation of a Palestinian State.
“We are responsible for defining what a Palestinian State would look like. We should also define what it would consist of, and how it would function. And, most importantly, we must consider the question… whether to recognise a Palestinian State, even at the United Nations.”
The Foreign Secretary of the UK will be in Oman to reiterate Britain’s commitment towards delivering aid to Yemen and to outline the UK’s actions to deter Houthis from attacking ships in the Red Sea.
Joe Biden had said that he made a decision about how to deal with militants backed by Iran in Iraq and Syria, who on Sunday fired at an American base located in northern Jordan, killing three US soldiers.
When asked if he thought Iran was responsible for this attack, President Obama replied: “I hold them accountable in the sense that the supply the weapons to those who committed the crime.”
Washington promised a “very consequential response” to the attacks. John Kirby, White House National Security Spokesman, said that the US has not yet identified the group responsible for the attack on the US base but believes the militants have Iranian support.
He said: “We are still doing the analysis but the work clearly has the hallmarks and characteristics of groups who are backed both by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Hezbollah.”
Kataib Hezbollah – the group that was blamed for the deadly drone attack – announced on Tuesday that it would cease its attacks against American forces in the Middle East.
On its website, it said: “We are announcing that we will suspend our military and security activities against the occupiers to avoid embarrassment of the Iraqi Government.”
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