Aboard Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales

The Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales (R09), one of the largest and most advanced warships ever built in the UK, made a port visit to Crete, Greece, on November 1 as part of its global deployment leading the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in Operation Highmast. Operation Highmast is a UK-led multinational deployment of the Carrier Strike Group 2025 (CSG25), centered around the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09), designed to enhance the interoperability and preparedness of NATO and allied forces through multinational exercises and operations with air, sea and land forces, throughout 2025 in the Indo-Pacific and Mediterranean regions. The UK’s CSG serves as a significant maritime force capable of projecting power and influence on a global scale. Its goals include reinforcing the strategic capabilities of the UK and its allies and ensuring a coordinated response to global threats, while also strengthening diplomatic and economic ties with partner nations. I went on board to bring you this exclusive report. My story for Naval News, here.

INFOGRAPHICS #23: U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group (CSG)

Ships from the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group simulate
a strait transit in the Atlantic Ocean on Dec 10, 2013. Photo
by Justin Wolpert, U.S. Navy

A carrier strike group (CSG) is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, a nuclear-powered super-carrier (Nimitz class), which is the centerpiece of the strike group and also serves as the flagship for the CSG Commander and respective staff, at least one cruiser (Ticonderoga class), a destroyer squadron of at least two-three destroyers (Arleigh Burke class) and/or two-three frigates (currently the U.S. Navy does not operate any frigates, thus more destroyers in the group), a carrier air wing of about 70 aircraft (typically up to nine squadrons) and up to two nuclear-powered attack submarines (Los Angeles class, Virginia class), used to screen the strike group against hostile surface ships and submarines, but which also carry cruise missiles for long-range strike capability. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes attached logistics ships and a supply ship. CSGs are not restricted to a specific composition and can be modified depending on expected threats, roles, or missions expected during a deployment, and one may be different from another. The Navy states that "there really is no real definition of a strike group. Strike groups are formed and disestablished on an as needed basis, and one may be different from another. However, they all are comprised of similar types of ships."