This week’s training follows a previous exercise with the Indian Navy in June—during which the HMS Prince of Wales embarrassingly lost an F-35 fighter.
On Sunday, the navies of the UK and India began the eight-day Exercise Konkan-25, which is taking place off the western coast of the subcontinent. The bilateral naval exercise has grown in significance since its inception in 2004, aimed at enhancing interoperability between the two nations.
What makes the 2025 edition especially unique is that it is the first to involve the flagship carrier strike groups (CSGs) of both the Royal Navy and Indian Navy, with HMS Prince of Wales operating alongside INS Vikrant. The British Queen Elizabeth-class conventionally-powered aircraft carrier is leading the Carrier Strike Group 2025 (CSG25) on the return leg of the Operation Highmast deployment to the Indo-Pacific. HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth, England, in April and is scheduled to be back home by early December.
“The UK and India believe in an Indo-Pacific that is free and open. We share an ambition for a modern defence and security partnership, a fundamental pillar of UK-India Vision 2035, agreed by our Prime Ministers this year,” said Lindy Cameron, the British High Commissioner to India. “The engagements between the Carrier Strike Groups of our two navies demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the rules-based international order in the region and lay the groundwork for future cooperation.”
About the Konkan-25 Exercise’s Two Phases
Exercise Konkan-25 is being conducted in two phases. The first is the harbor phase, which includes interactions between the crews, cross-deck visits, and even some time for sports and cultural exchanges. This will be followed by a sea phase that will include “complex maritime operational drills focusing on anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine exercises, flying operations and other seamanship evolutions,” the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Sunday.
CSG25 will also carry out a single-day exercise with the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the conclusion of the exercise.
“The UK and India are two carrier operating countries, and the Royal Navy and Indian Navy are in a fairly exclusive club as blue-water, multi-carrier navies,” said Commodore Chris Saunders MBE of the Royal Navy, defence adviser for the British High Commission in New Delhi. “This exercise provides another opportunity, a first with both carriers, for two maritime powers to enhance combined-capability operating and share best practices. The UK is also proud to co-lead the Maritime Security Pillar of India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.”
The UK Is Hoping to Avoid Further Carrier Mishaps
The training with the Indian Navy follows a past joint exercise with the Indian Navy in June. The Royal Navy likely hopes it won’t result in a repeat of a notorious mishap during that exercise, involving its F-35B Lightning fighters. During the previous drills, one of the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft was forced to divert to a commercial airport in southern India after experiencing mechanical problems. The F-35 then spent multiple embarrassing weeks grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala, India.
The issues with the fifth-generation stealth aircraft necessitated that a team be flown in from the UK and the United States. The F-35 finally rejoined HMS Prince of Wales during her visit to Australia in late July. However, a second F-35B from the carrier was later forced to divert to a commercial airport in Japan after experiencing an in-flight malfunction. That aircraft had remained in Japan as of last month, as it was awaiting spare parts.
Aside from those two incidents, CSG25’s Operation Highmast deployment has been viewed as a success, highlighting the UK’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific. HMS Prince of Wales and her escorts have taken part in multiple exercises, including the Australian-led Talisman Sabre, and made several key port visits to Yokosuka and Tokyo, Japan; Darwin, Australia; and Singapore.
Last month, the crew of the carrier also paid their respects to the previous warship to be named HMS Prince of Wales, the King George V-class battleship that was sunk in December 1941 by Japanese land-based aircraft during the Second World War.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
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