Der britische Flugzeugträger benötigt möglicherweise französische Eskorte
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/08/britains-aircraft-carrier-may-need-french-escort/
Von ForTheGloryOfAmn
Der britische Flugzeugträger benötigt möglicherweise französische Eskorte
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/08/britains-aircraft-carrier-may-need-french-escort/
Von ForTheGloryOfAmn
25 Kommentare
UK warship availability is certainly low at the minute, though note that other nations participating in a carrier group isn’t that unusual. The French aircraft carrier is currently being escorted by allied ships too. I guess and hope that PoW won’t be sent though; the idea of PoW going – and even HMS Dragon really – comes across as pretty politically motivated. If more airpower were needed…Cyprus is right there, we kept those bases for a reason.
The shadow defence secretary is doing a lot of talking from his arse there:
> James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said: […] “The truth is Labour have prioritised welfare over defence, leaving an under-funded Ministry of Defence forced to make £2.6bn in cuts this year.
>
> “That’s why there are no Royal Navy warships in the Middle East and why even if a carrier were deployed, there would be serious questions about escort ships.”
It’s nothing to do with the current bloody welfare spending and a lot more to do with the fact that replacements for the ageing Type 23s and the infrastructure to maintain the submarines weren’t ordered until far too late, for which his own party shares a significant part of the blame.
French Escort?
Now Donald Trump is listening
So – was Nelson’s corpse already plugged to power generator? Him turning in his grave should be classified as clean energy!
Pride of the Royal Navy forced to seek escort from the French. Maybe there is a God after all.
Britain’s aircraft carrier can stay where it is. As an added bonus, it won’t need any escort
Isn’t that pretty much how NATO navies work though?
It is a good thing for European nations to cooperate. Especially to formntasksngroups in actual real life situatuons and not only NATO maneuvers.
The French aircraft carrier was literally just escorted by British ships, thats how alliances work.
„If it’s deployed to the middle east“. Remember Britain has not decided to send anything yet.
It’s shitty however the fact that the Torries are trying to use this to get in punches when the solution would have been to build more ships during their term. The Torries could have picked up the Type 45 options for 2 more ships if they wanted to
BREAKING NEWS! Allied forces do Allied things!
Torygraph at its finest.
That’s what allies do.
And the Telegraph trying to pin the state of the UK navy on Labour when they are in charge only since 1 year after two decades of conservative leadership is laughable. Not saying they will improve it.
Start how you mean to go on.
What’s more dangerous than a nuclear armed opponent?
Two nuclear armed opponents!
Anglo French defence cooperation makes a lot of sense.
War bringing people together.
I would also like to have a french escort.
Having a French ship escort a British carrier is like having your ex-wife drive you to your wedding. It’s awkward for everyone involved, and you’re constantly checking the rearview mirror to make sure they aren’t aiming for the hull.
I think posting anything from this reactionary rag should be banned from here
I bring word from Admiral Pierre of Baguetteville. An Alliance once existed between France and the UK. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance.
How’s that supposed to work then? They’ll end up colliding because the French will be on the wrong side of the road.
Doesn’t the french one have a multinational escort right now?
Ooh La La Madame Carrier…
**Lack of available warships in the Royal Navy could force UK to rely on close Nato allies**
Daniel Hardaker. Daniel Martin Deputy Political Editor
Published 08 March 2026 8:32pm GMT
A British aircraft carrier may need to be escorted by a French warship if it is deployed to the Middle East.
HMS Prince of Wales has been placed on advanced readiness, with the crew told it must be ready to sail with five days’ notice.
However, with most of the Royal Navy’s major warships unavailable or undergoing maintenance, protection would probably need to be provided by allies such as France, the US and other European countries.
A typical carrier escort group includes two to three destroyers or frigates and an attack submarine.
The Royal Navy has six destroyers, but only HMS Dragon is known to be ready for action and is due to sail to the eastern Mediterranean very soon to protect the British sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus.
Of the fleet’s seven frigates, only HMS Somerset and HMS St Albans are understood to be available. The rest are undergoing maintenance or struggling with defects.
Britain also has six attack submarines, but only HMS Anson is active and she is deployed in Australia.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said: “Labour’s talk of putting a carrier on greater readiness is a distraction from the real question: why didn’t Starmer plan properly and move naval assets weeks ago, when a major US operation was clearly coming?
“The truth is Labour have prioritised welfare over defence, leaving an under-funded Ministry of Defence forced to make £2.6bn in cuts this year.
“That’s why there are no Royal Navy warships in the Middle East and why even if a carrier were deployed, there would be serious questions about escort ships.”
In addition to responding to the crisis in the Middle East, the Royal Navy also has to maintain other Nato commitments, such as countering the threat from Russia.
Earlier this year, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to send HMS Prince of Wales to the north Atlantic and the high north Arctic region as part of Operation Firecrest following the US president’s threats to Greenland.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, said: “If we were to deploy, how would we cover Operation Firecrest and how would we fulfil our Nato Standing Maritime Group One flagship commitment?”
# HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier
Britain’s other aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is currently undergoing a dry-docking period in Rosyth, Scotland.
If deployed, HMS Prince of Wales would most likely be sent to the eastern Mediterranean, where a drone believed to have been fired by Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy, hit RAF Akrotiri on March 1.
Protection could be provided by HMS Dragon when it arrives, but it would also need help from warships sent by France and other European countries.
The nuclear-powered French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its escorts entered the Mediterranean on Friday.
Charles de Gaulle’s Rafale fighter jets and Hawkeye radar aircraft could provide a defensive screen for HMS Prince of Wales, as could air defence systems on board the two destroyers and one frigate accompanying the carrier.
France also sent the frigate Languedoc to Cyprus in response to the attack on RAF Akrotiri and has begun deploying land-based missile defence systems on the island.
Spain has announced it will send the frigate Cristóbal Colón to accompany the Charles de Gaulle, while the German frigate FGS Nordrhein-Westfalen arrived at the Cypriot port of Limassol on Sunday.
Italy has said it will send the frigate Federico Martinego to the island, Greece has sent two frigates and four F-16 fighter jets, and a total of six Turkish F-16s are due to arrive on Monday.
The USS Gerald R Ford and its escorts had been in the eastern Mediterranean launching aircraft in support of US-Israeli attacks on Iran but it has now transited through the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea.
Tom Sharpe, a former Royal Navy officer, said deploying HMS Prince of Wales to the Mediterranean now that the USS Gerald R Ford had left the area “would make me nervous”.
“Removing the protective blanket the USS Ford provides makes me less comfortable sending Prince of Wales there,” he said and added: “We should still do it though.”
If deployed to the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea, HMS Prince of Wales’s protection would likely need to be provided by US assets in the region, such as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.
# Iran: The Latest
Shock and awe but no regime change
Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, warned that Britain “should be concerned about the size of the Navy”.
He told The Telegraph: “It is ridiculous how few ships we have. We have cuts to defence for years and years and years, and now it has come home to roost.
“We have not built ships quickly enough so inevitably we have gaps in what we’ve got.”
The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on escorts needed to protect HMS Prince of Wales.
A spokesman added: “HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.”
The Telegraph is suddenly really against all the austerity they loved for 14 years huh?
I don’t think one escort will be enough for the entire crew
That’s funny, because the French carrier needs Dutch escort.