Britain sends navy patrol boats on Indo-Pacific mission
- Two new vessels will add to the British aircraft carrier already in the Pacific
- Deployments unlikely to change the military balance in the region but will send a political message, observers say
The HMS Tamar and HMS Spey, two of the navy’s new offshore patrol vessels, were scheduled to set sail from Portsmouth in southern England on Tuesday towards the Indo-Pacific for “perhaps five years or more”, the Royal Navy said.
The vessels are aimed at protecting Britain’s interests, “safeguarding territorial waters, protecting fishing stocks, performing constabulary duties and acting as the eyes, ears and representatives of the navy and nation wherever they patrol”, according to the navy’s website.
They are also equipped with a short-range anti-aircraft gun and a single mounted gun to defend against short-range missiles, rockets, grenades and explosives.
In late August, Britain joined the Netherlands, the United States and Japan for naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate the interoperability of the countries’ forces.
