By Olha Chepil | 2025-05-12

KYIV -- In the coming days, the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales will come more and more alive with the thunder of jet engines. After years of planning, British fighter jets are preparing to take off from the Royal Navy's flagship once again. This time, it will be as part of Operation Highmast, one of the United Kingdom's most ambitious military deployments in a generation.

The mission will serve as a vivid demonstration of NATO coordination across air, sea and land, a deliberate show of unity in an increasingly contested global security environment.

5th-generation fighters

For Capt. Will Blackett, who commands the Prince of Wales, the stakes are both personal and professional.

"I'm about to go and do the most high-profile thing that the navy's done for some time. I get to be in command of one of the major parts of that effort. Professionally, it's incredibly satisfying," Blackett told the UK Defense Journal on April 22. "It's a jumble of emotion, but I'm looking forward to getting it done."

The United Kingdom is preparing for its largest-ever operational deployment of fifth-generation aircraft at sea.

"We'll start with 18 F-35B, the UK Lightning aircraft, and that will grow to 24 throughout the deployment. And we'll also start with 16 UK helicopters and also three flights of uncrewed air vehicles as well," Capt. Colin McGannity, the commander of the air group, said aboard the HMS Prince of Wales on April 22.

Aircraft numbers may fluctuate as the operation evolves, he said. The United Kingdom operates 35 F-35Bs and aims to expand that to 47 by the end of the year, with a long-term goal of 76.

The F-35B is a versatile fighter jet capable of electronic warfare, long-range strikes and stealth missions.

"The F-35 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter that comes in three models: A, B and C. The main difference is in the engines and their configurations. The F-35B Lightning II is a short takeoff and vertical landing version of the fighter meant to be based on aircraft carriers," Konstantin Krivolap, an aviation analyst and former test engineer at Ukraine's Antonov aircraft company, told Kontur.

Designed for both land and maritime operations, the F-35B stands out for its flexibility. Its ability to launch from aircraft carriers, temporary runways and coastal bases makes the British air wing an instrument for responding to a variety of threats, say analysts.

"This is a demonstration of these fifth-generation fighters and their abilities to operate under different missions, on land, in the air and at sea," Krivolap said.

A show of allied strength

The Prince of Wales, the second aircraft carrier in the Queen Elizabeth class, serves as the flagship of the operation. It has advanced avionics and a robust communication system. This operation marks the first time a next-generation British carrier is serving as the flagship in an international coalition's operation.

The deployment begins in the Mediterranean, where British forces trained alongside French and Italian units during the Neptune Strike exercise in April, military and political correspondent Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, noted to Kontur.

The Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will then move through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, where it will conduct joint drills with the United States.

In light of growing global threats, the United Kingdom is aiming to demonstrate its ability to project airpower from the sea and to strengthen its strategic ties with NATO, said Bratchuk.

"One of the maritime theaters of war, in the oceans, could very well end up being the Indo-Pacific region. So this is a show of force, a drill of the respective skills for all the crews, both the air and naval crews," Bratchuk said.

Operation Highmast stands out for integrating aviation, naval forces, cyberspace, space assets and electronic warfare into a unified approach based on network-centric warfare principles.

"These are mutually agreed-to actions of the naval fleets of these countries. The countries taking part in these exercises have shared interests in those locations," Bratchuk said.

Training, experience, tests

Roughly 750 personnel make up the carrier's air wing, a figure that will climb to over 4,000 during the multinational phase of the deployment. For many of those involved, it represents the largest operation of their careers.

"These are tests for the maintenance unit, the crew and the air wing. This is providing very robust training for the British sailors," Pavlo Lakiychuk, a program director at Ukraine's Strategy XXI Center for Global Studies, told Kontur.

An aircraft carrier operates as part of a larger strike group and does not travel independently, he said. It is typically accompanied by a destroyer that offers combat support, including air defense capabilities. One or two frigates are part of the group, serving primarily in an anti-submarine role. Additionally, a nuclear-powered submarine provides long-range reconnaissance around the formation.

The CSG will be accompanied by an Astute-class attack submarine, with additional maritime support from allied nations. Norway is contributing three ships, while Canada and Spain will deploy naval assets or personnel to join specific phases of the operation.

The deployment serves a dual purpose, suggest analysts: it showcases the United Kingdom's combat readiness while sending a message to allies and potential adversaries alike.