British aircraft carrier emerges on Russia’s eastern flank

A British aircraft carrier has been deployed to waters off Russia’s Far East coast for military drills with Japanese fighter jets as part of a new strategic alignment between London and Tokyo.

The joint naval and air exercise in the Sea of Japan—known in the two Koreas as the East Sea—comes five months into the U.K. Carrier Strike Group’s mission to the Pacific region.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Why It Matters

Britain dispatched the HMS Prince of Wales from Portsmouth in April for operations across the Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan as part of a pan-European initiative that seeks to maintain a naval presence in the Indo-Pacific through sequential deployments of aircraft carriers.

The U.K. and Japan—key U.S. allies in NATO and the Pacific—have deepened security ties in recent years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s increasingly assertive activities.

Last month, the British and Japanese defense ministries met in Tokyo to reaffirm their close security partnership.

What To Know

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force revealed on Monday that it had deployed four F-35A stealth jets and eight F-15 fighter aircraft over the weekend for a tactical training event over the Sea of Japan alongside four British F-35B jets from the Prince of Wales.

The Sea of Japan separates Russia‘s far eastern regions from the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula. Russian military aircraft and vessels frequently operate in the area, prompting heightened alert in Japan.

Japan’s air force said the one-day maneuvers aimed to enhance its tactical capabilities and strengthen its coordination with the British forces. Official photos showed Japanese and British fighter jets flying over the Prince of Wales.

A Newsweek map tracks the deployment of the Prince of Wales from Europe to the Pacific.

Following its stopover in Australia in late July, the British carrier participated in a large-scale exercise in the Philippine Sea from August 4-12 with American and Japanese carrier vessels capable of operating F-35B and F-35C jets.

The Prince of Wales then made two port calls in Japan in late August and early September, visiting Yokosuka Naval Base—located near Tokyo—from August 12-28, and the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal from August 28-September 2.

After leaving Tokyo, the aircraft carrier sailed north and was spotted transiting the Tsugaru Strait on Friday from the Pacific Ocean toward the Sea of Japan. The waterway separates two of Japan’s main islands—Honshu to the south and Hokkaido to the north.

The Prince of Wales is now on its homeward voyage, according to the British Royal Navy.

What People Are Saying

The U.K.-Japan defense ministerial meeting’s joint statement said on August 28: “Responding to an increasingly severe international security environment and sharing the recognition that the security and prosperity of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are indivisible, the two Ministers emphasized the U.K. and Japan’s deep strategic alignment and reaffirmed the Enhanced Global Strategic Partnership.”

Japan’s 2025 defense white paper said: “The existing order of world peace is being seriously challenged, and Japan finds itself in the most severe and complex security environment of the post-war era.”

Britain’s Royal Navy said in a press release on August 28: “While in Tokyo, the flagship of the [Prince of Wales] Carrier Strike Group will host the Pacific Future Forum, bringing together defense, security, and industry leaders to discuss shared security challenges, from future technology to economic security.”

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether the Prince of Wales and its carrier strike group will transit the South China Sea, where China and regional countries have overlapping territorial and maritime claims, as they wrap up their deployment and head home.