These activities kicked off the Strike Group’s engagements with Singapore, which will be led by flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth visiting the city-state today…reports Asian Lite News.
UK’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will visit Singapore today, to reaffirm the deep and enduring Singapore-UK partnership, the British High Commission Singapore said.
Launching from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, F-35B Lightning jets took to the skies with the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) F-16 fighters on Saturday.
Exercising together in the international waters of the southern reaches of the South China Sea, the jets conducted simulated air combat training and formation flying. Meanwhile, ships from the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the Republic of Singapore Navy conducted a manoeuvring exercise in the international waters in the South China Sea.
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These activities kicked off the Strike Group’s engagements with Singapore, which will be led by flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth visiting the city-state today.
UK’s Minister for Asia, Amanda Milling and Royal Air Force (RAF) Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, are also in Singapore, and will meet with senior military officials from Singapore onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Amongst her engagements in Singapore, Minister Milling will also lead the UK’s contribution to a think-tank roundtable, covering themes of ASEAN, regional security and prosperity, and the UK’s role in the Indo-Pacific.
The Carrier Strike Group, which set off on its maiden operational deployment in May, has sailed the Atlantic Ocean, through the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific – participating in a range of activities with partners and allies enroute.
While in Singapore, the crew onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth will host Singapore officials and industry leaders from a range of sectors – including defence and security, trade and business, and science and research – supporting the development of closer UK-Singapore cooperation and the UK’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.
To mark International Day of the Girl, female engineers on HMS Queen Elizabeth have also participated in a ‘virtual Q&A’ with girls from Singapore, answering their questions about careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) sector.
In July, the Strike Group navigated through the Singapore Strait, with a number of ships conducting an exercise with the Republic of Singapore Navy in international waters in the southern reaches of the South China Sea. At the same time, replenishment ship RFA Tidespring also made a contactless pit stop to Singapore to embark supplies for the Group’s movement further east.
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