Helicopters and F-35 fighter planes aboard Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, docked at Changi Naval Base in Singapore.
Victor Loh, CNBC
SINGAPORE — The UK plans to extend its presence within the contested South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific area, the Royal Air Drive Chief of the Air Employees, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston stated Monday.
Talking on board the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth docked in Singapore, Sir Wigston stated that there can be a “extra common drumbeat of deployments.”
“That will be manifested each in what you see from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Drive,” he stated.
The U.Ok.’s Provider Strike Group, led by the £3 billion ($3.9 billion) flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, is on its maiden 28-week deployment around the globe in a projection of pressure.
The British Excessive Commissioner to Singapore, Kara Owen, added that two Royal Navy warships had simply transited via the Panama Canal and had been headed to Asian waters. This follows an announcement in July to completely assign two warships within the area.
“Our ambition is to take a extra persistent presence right here than another nation from [Europe],” she stated on board the 65,000-ton ship.
A view of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s flight deck from the highest of the plane provider’s ski ramp.
Victor Loh, CNBC
Moreover the deployment of extra army belongings, the elevated engagement will come within the type of humanitarian help and catastrophe aid, Sir Wigston added.
Earlier, ships from the U.Ok. Provider Strike Group participated in an train marking the fiftieth anniversary of the 5 Energy Defence Preparations with Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
The deployment additionally comes because the U.Ok. seeks to ink extra commerce offers around the globe following its departure from the E.U.
In June, the U.Ok. began negotiations to hitch a wider Asia Pacific free-trade alliance referred to as the Complete and Progressive Settlement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.