Royal Navy: Annual Carrier Strike Group Multinational Deployment and Trade Promotion Intentions

Key Chapter Title List

1. Overview
2. Growth Agenda
3. Statement of Intent
4. Onboard Equipment Considerations
5. Participation Costs and Sponsorship Opportunities
6. Country Overview: Indonesia
7. Indonesia In-Country Activities
8. Country Overview: Singapore
9. Singapore In-Country Activities
10. Country Overview: Malaysia
11. Malaysia In-Country Activities

Document Introduction

This report details a large-scale, long-duration multinational carrier strike group deployment operation planned to be led by the UK Royal Navy in 2025. Centered around the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, this deployment will last eight months, covering vast sea areas from the Mediterranean to the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic intent is twofold: on one hand, through high-frequency joint exercises, port visits, and coordinated actions with multilateral partners such as NATO, to reaffirm the UK's commitment to the security and stability of key regions (the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific), strengthening strategic deterrence and military presence; on the other hand, it explicitly positions this military deployment as a platform to promote UK trade and industrial exports, embedding substantive commercial promotion agendas within the framework of military cooperation.

The core content of the report revolves around the deployment's operational route, participating forces, and composite objectives. The operation will involve approximately 2,500 Royal Navy personnel and 592 Royal Air Force personnel, supported by around 900 Army personnel, demonstrating joint operational capabilities. The multinational participation is a prominent feature; besides key regional partners such as the US, India, Singapore, and Malaysia, Norway will provide a warship for the entire journey, with support also from countries like Canada and Spain. The initial phase of the deployment will be integrated into the NATO command structure, participating in the "Neptune Strike" exercise. Subsequently, it will transit the Indian Ocean, participate in the multinational "Talisman Sabre" exercise near Australia, and conduct joint training with the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The report explicitly emphasizes that the Indo-Pacific region is crucial for UK trade, with bilateral trade reaching £286 billion in the 12 months leading up to September 2024, accounting for 17% of the UK's total global trade, providing economic rationale for the deployment's commercial objectives.

The report focuses on analyzing the specific implementation plan of the deployment as a vehicle for the "Growth Agenda." The carrier strike group will host a series of trade promotion activities during port visits, including onboard exhibitions, ship tours, luncheons, dinners, and receptions. This document, serving as a "Request for Information," primarily focuses on port visits to three countries—Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia—in late June 2025, providing opportunities for UK companies to participate in onboard commercial activities. The report details the planned countries for visits in subsequent months (July to December). Participating companies are required to pay a participation fee of £2,500 + VAT per port event and have access to additional event sponsorship opportunities. The report also explains the equipment restrictions (due to operational security) and basic configurations for onboard exhibitions.

The latter part of the report provides in-depth country analyses for three key visited nations—Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia—and plans specific "In-Country Activities" programs. For each country, the analysis starts from its strategic position in the region, defense modernization priorities, and defense relations with the UK, then designs tailored onboard promotion activities. For example, in Indonesia, activities will focus on showcasing UK maritime capabilities to align with its naval modernization priorities. The event will be divided into two sessions, targeting Indonesian defense industry representatives and a senior government and naval delegation respectively. In Singapore, a "Defence and Security Industry Day" and a high-level reception will be held, targeting its highly specialized defense market focused on next-generation technologies. In Malaysia, activities include a Defence and Security Industry Day, a cybersecurity roundtable, and a reception, aiming to support its multi-domain military modernization process. These activities are all designed to establish high-level connections, showcase UK capabilities, and pave the way for subsequent commercial cooperation.

In summary, this document reveals a composite strategic operation that tightly integrates high-end military power projection with national economic interests. It is not only a military manifestation of the UK's "Global Britain" strategy and its Indo-Pacific tilt policy but also innovatively transforms the carrier strike group into a mobile "national brand exhibition hall" and trade negotiation platform. This deployment signifies deep synergy between military diplomacy and economic diplomacy. Its execution process and outcomes hold significant case study value for assessing the UK's global role positioning in the post-Brexit era, the maintenance of alliance networks, and commercial expansion strategies in highly competitive regional markets.