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Britain sends navy patrol boats on Indo-Pacific mission
- Two new vessels will add to the British aircraft carrier already in the Pacific
- Deployments unlikely to change the military balance in the region but will send a political message, observers say
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Two British naval patrol vessels will sail to the Indo-Pacific on what could be a five-year mission, as Britain turns more of its attention to the region amid strained relations with China.
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The HMS Tamar and HMS Spey, two of the navy’s new offshore patrol vessels, were scheduled to set sail from Portsmouth in southern England on Tuesday towards the Indo-Pacific for “perhaps five years or more”, the Royal Navy said.
The vessels are aimed at protecting Britain’s interests, “safeguarding territorial waters, protecting fishing stocks, performing constabulary duties and acting as the eyes, ears and representatives of the navy and nation wherever they patrol”, according to the navy’s website.
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They are also equipped with a short-range anti-aircraft gun and a single mounted gun to defend against short-range missiles, rockets, grenades and explosives.
The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike group is also on a seven-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific and has stopped in Japan in what Britain says is a show of its increasing commitment to maritime security in the region.
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