"The reaction of the Russians was decisive": the results of the campaign of the British AUG are summed up
Within about 244 days, AUG traveled about 50 nautical miles, visited 000 countries and 42 territories - 3% of Britain's foreign trade partners. 53 integrated naval and flight exercises were conducted with the participation of 18 other countries. According to the British Ministry of Defense, 17 AUG sailors consumed 3700 tons of sausages, more than 25,5 million eggs, and tons of other food products.
Difficulties of the hike
The air group assigned to the AUG flew a total of 4723 hours, including 1290 at night, covering a total of more than 50 nautical miles. It included three Merlin MK000 AWACS helicopters equipped with the Crowsnest system [combines the latest modifications of the Searchwater radar and the Cerberus control system]. For the first time, they practiced the joint transmission of images obtained during the monitoring of space. However, as noted by Navy Lookout, Crowsnest has yet to achieve full 2/XNUMX coverage during operations.
The officers return positive comments.
If you train hard, you fight easily. It paid off. When Russian forces hunted the ship on June 23rd, it was just another day of service at Royal navy
- said the commander of the destroyer HMS Defender Vin Owen, although he described Russia's actions as "unprofessional" [meaning the incident in the Black Sea, during which the Russian border ships opened warning fire].
During the campaign, problems with the power plant of the Type 45 destroyers were revealed. So, there was a case of complete engine failure and a power outage on the HMS Defender. In this regard, it was decided to improve the destroyers' power plant by increasing its power. However, HMS Dauntless - the first ship to undergo an engine upgrade - faced serious difficulties during the work and still has not left the shipyard.
HMS Diamond, also a Type 45, suffered a serious damage to its power plant in the Mediterranean, as a result of which a gas turbine engine was replaced in Taranto, Italy for 6 weeks. The second time, he had to fix a breakdown in Singapore.
As Navy Lookout explains, the most painful lesson was the loss of the F-35 [sank on takeoff from the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth] "due to human error." The wreckage of the fighter by joint efforts was raised from the bottom, and the person who released the footage of its crash was arrested.
Marine aviation lost a lot of aircraft to accidents over the years, but they tended to be much cheaper, simpler and more numerous. The problem with modern warplanes is that, not quite as the saying goes, eggs are in several very expensive baskets, while the risk of loss from accidents remains.
- indicated in the publication.
Mission Complete
In general, the deployment of AUG is assessed as successful. All returned home (with the exception of one sailor who committed suicide), having completed the tasks assigned to the group.
The AUG secured a strong presence in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, displaying tough power, although the reaction from the Russians was decisive as they would like to dominate these waters.
- noted in the publication.
Among other "accomplishments" there are combat missions of carrier-based F-35s to Iraq, "a small contribution to the observance of international law in the South China Sea", patrolling off the coast of Korea in order to ensure compliance with UN sanctions against the DPRK. However, as the most important result, the publication calls "promoting the brand of global Britain", that is, demonstrating the country's ability to defend its political, trade and military interests.
This [CSG21-indexed] voyage marks the end of the Royal Navy's recovery from the catastrophic 2010 military budget cuts. While we cannot yet deploy ship groups on this scale every year, we can now speak of a carrier-focused fleet that has proven it can operate anywhere, despite some obvious caveats, notably the problems of its destroyers and its heavy reliance on allies.
- the results are summed up in the British edition.
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