British aircraft carrier put on increased state of readiness
One of Britain’s two aircraft carriers has been put on an increased state of readiness, “reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment,” a defense ministry spokesperson told CNN.
That doesn’t mean that the British government has decided to deploy the HMS Prince of Wales nor that the warship cannot be involved in other planned missions, CNN understands. It simply means that the aircraft carrier would take less time to be deployed, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
HMS Prince of Wales had been scheduled to take part in a NATO exercise later this year as part of the alliance’s effort to deter Russia, the defense ministry said last month.
The aircraft carrier’s change in status comes after the government faced criticism for being slow to deploy a warship to help defend Cyprus. Although Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday that the UK was sending a warship to the Mediterranean island, it still hadn’t set sail as of Saturday afternoon, according to marine tracking websites.
Britain’s defense ministry also announced the US has started using British bases “for specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region,” and confirmed that British jets continue to fly over Jordan, Qatar and Cyprus “in defence of British interests and allies.”
Starmer has sought to distinguish between the Americans’ offensive and defensive operations, and initally denied the US permission to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
By Faig Mahmudov
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