Carrier Strike Group 22
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Following the conclusion of CSG21, a 2022 deployment was planned with the involvement of both aircraft carriers.
[45] However, HMS
Prince of Wales suffered a starboard propeller malfunction in August 2022. The deployment was subsequently downscaled as HMS
Queen Elizabeth was diverted to the United States to replace
Prince of Wales in hosting the Atlantic Future Forum. After returning from the US,
Queen Elizabeth embarked eight F-35 jets and seven helicopters. The strike group participated in Operation Achillian with NATO forces in the North Sea to validate NATO's fifth-generation strike capability. Anti-submarine warfare exercises were also carried out alongside RAF
P-8 Poseidons operating from
RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
[46]
Operation Firedrake (Carrier Strike Group 23)
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In September 2023, HMS
Queen Elizabeth sailed as the centrepiece of the CSG23 deployment, codenamed Operation Firedrake. The carrier strike group consisted of
Queen Elizabeth, with a wholly British air group, alongside
HMS Diamond and Norway's
HNoMS Otto Sverdrup. In October,
HMS Portland and later
HMS Kent, joined the carrier group. The group operated in European waters alongside ships from a number of other navies, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. Part of the deployment saw the carrier strike group operating under the direct command of NATO for the first time.
[47]