Standing Royal Navy Deployments
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Template:Royal Navy Although the majority of the Royal Navy fleet, unless required, remains training and exercising in and around Home Waters, the Navy has a number of standing commitments to provide ships for various missions around the world:
- Fleet Flagship and R2 Carrier
- Normally two aircraft carriers are available to the Royal Navy at any one time - one will normally be on 48 hours standby for deployment, and is designated as the 'Fleet Flagship'
- Fleet Ready Escort
- This is a ship that is maintained on short-notice standby to be deployed anywhere in the world.
- Atlantic Patrol Task (North)
- This is the United Kingdom's contribution to the North Atlantic and Caribbean areas. It is designed to act as a reassuring presence to British, Commonwealth and friendly nations in the area, and to protect British interests. In addition, the deployment also plays a major anti-drugs role and can provide humanitarian assistance.
- Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT)
- STANAVFORLANT is a permanent squadron of medium sized warships from several NATO countries which trains and deploys together in the eastern Atlantic to provide verification of current procedures and tactics.
- Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED)
- STANAVFORMED is an identical deployment to STANAVFORLANT, performing an equivalent function in the Mediterranean.
- Atlantic Patrol Task (South)
- This deployment performs an equivalent function to the APT(N), providing a British presence to friendly countries in the South Atlantic and West Africa. In addition, it is also tasked with maintaining the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
- Armilla Patrol
- The Armilla Patrol was originally established at the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War to ensure the safety of British shipping in the Persian Gulf. While that is still part of its function, it is also responsible for maintaining a reassuring British presence for friendly nations in the region.
- Mine Countermeasures Force (North)
- MCMFOR(N) is a standing commitment to NATO to provide a Mine Countermeasures vessel to the Baltic, Northern Europe and Atlantic areas.
- Fishery Protection Squadron
- The Fishery Protection Squadron protects both the United Kingdom fishing fleet and the oil and gas fields in the British areas of the North Sea.
- Northern Ireland Squadron
- The function of the Northern Ireland Squadron is to prevent and deter the movement of arms and personnel of the various terrorist factions in and around Ulster.
- Falkland Islands Patrol Ship
- The Falkland Islands patrol ship is an Offshore Patrol Vessel that is permanently station in the islands, in support of the APT(S) deployment.