Royal Navy ends UK’s largest war-game with four-day naval ‘battle’ with Portsmouth warship playing submarine hunter

Operation Joint Warrior finished on Sunday having tested thousands of sailors, soldiers and aviators as they faced submarines, swarm attacks, drones, air raids, and missile strikes from the Hebrides to the South Coast.

UK forces were joined by nine Nato allies, including troops from the US Marines, Italian destroyer ITS Andrea Doria and Polish frigate ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko

Royal Navy frigate HMS Kent took on the role of submarine hunter, adopting an exacting ‘Patrol Quiet State’ of hush among her crew – before launching into a full-scale naval ‘battle’, fighting in a realistic combat exercise.

HMS Kent’s Commanding Officer Jez Brettell said: ‘Exercise Joint Warrior was a tremendous opportunity for the ship’s company to work with allied nations from Nato and comprehensively prove our formidable anti-submarine capability.’

Meanwhile smaller assets in the Royal Navy’s inventory showed their capabilities, with small P2000 craft – just 54 tonnes and a mere 21 metres long – staging a series of ‘attacks’ alongside jet skis and speedboats.

Portsmouth-based HMS Exploit made 15 such attacks against minehunters, frigates, and destroyers.

Lieutenant Martin Head, HMS Exploit’s Commanding Officer, said: ‘It’s been brilliant to interact with warships of different nations, putting their teams to the test when reacting to multiple fast-moving contacts as we attempted to get as close as possible.’

To add to the choreographed confusion of battle, these ‘swarm tactics’ sought to overwhelm gunnery teams and defensive weapon systems – aided by co-ordinated simultaneous air attacks by RAF Typhoon fighters and Navy Wildcat helicopters.

Commodore Jeanette Morang, commander of NATO Maritime Group 1 which is made up of Dutch, German, Norwegian and French ships, said: ‘Joint Warrior was an excellent high-end training opportunity for Nato’s Standing Naval Forces in all maritime warfare areas.’

Last week saw the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sail into Portsmouth after taking the place of its sister ship which broke down on the way to a diplomatic visit to the United States.