Carrier vs. China: HMS Prince of Wales Sets Sail Toward Taiwan Strait Flashpoint

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(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) – The Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, has set sail on an ambitious eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific, a voyage that could see the 65,000-tonne warship transit the geopolitically volatile Taiwan Strait — a move likely to provoke a strong reaction from Beijing and inject new tension into an already fraught region.

Departing from Portsmouth, the carrier strike group (CSG) embarks on a mission that underscores Britain’s commitment to Indo-Pacific engagement, sailing under Operation Highmast with a powerful multinational escort from allied NATO nations including Norway and Canada.

While London has yet to formally disclose the vessel’s intended route, senior naval sources confirm that the possibility of transiting the 180-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait remains firmly on the table, in what would be one of the most assertive demonstrations of freedom of navigation by a European power in recent years.

Commanders aboard HMS Prince of Wales have indicated a readiness to chart any course required by mission objectives, signalling a high-level resolve to project strategic deterrence and maintain operational flexibility in contested waters.

Commodore James Blackmore, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, reinforced this message in an interview with The Telegraph, stating that the mission aims to “uphold international order” — even if doing so risks escalation with regional powers.

“I will deliver whatever mission I am ordered to go and do — that’s my role,” he said.

“My part of the bargain is being ready for all eventualities — from combat operations to defence engagements to allied cooperation — so I stand ready to carry out whatever the Government or Ministry of Defence directs,” he added.

“One of the purposes of being in the region is to uphold international order. It demonstrates our commitment to that goal and reassures our partners and allies.”

“The decision on our routing is not mine to make — that will be taken at a much higher level within the Government.”

“What I can reassure everyone is that I am fully prepared to undertake any mission and any route assigned to me.”

The carrier is escorted by the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, renowned for its advanced anti-air warfare capability, the frigate HMS Richmond, the replenishment oiler RFA Tidespring, and a stealth-capable Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, whose identity remains classified.

Bolstering the multinational character of the task group, Canada and Spain are each contributing a modern frigate, while Norway is deploying two state-of-the-art vessels — HNoMS Maud and HNoMS Roald Amundsen — for the entirety of the voyage.

Although the United States Navy has traditionally joined such high-profile deployments, its participation in this mission remains unconfirmed, reflecting shifting operational priorities in the region.

The deployment includes joint exercises with French naval forces off Europe’s Atlantic coast, followed by integration drills with the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean, marking a robust show of NATO interoperability.

From there, the strike group will navigate through the strategic chokepoints of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, laying the groundwork for power projection into the Indian Ocean and western Pacific.

Whether HMS Prince of Wales will engage in ongoing US-led air operations over Yemen during this transit remains unclear, though British forces have previously participated in coalition efforts in the area.

The current phase of the Yemen campaign has intensified dramatically under the Biden administration, expanding both in geographic scope and strategic impact, with implications for all NATO actors operating in adjacent maritime zones.

This mission marks only the second time in recent memory that the Royal Navy has deployed a carrier strike group for a prolonged Indo-Pacific sortie, following the 2021 voyage of HMS Queen Elizabeth during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

During that earlier deployment, the UK avoided the Taiwan Strait entirely, opting instead for a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea — a body of water heavily militarised by China and at the centre of overlapping sovereignty disputes.

If HMS Prince of Wales again avoids the Taiwan Strait, critics may view it as a sign that the UK is softening its position on China in pursuit of post-Brexit economic ties, potentially undermining its credibility as a maritime power committed to defending global norms.

Yet the dangers facing the strike group are not confined to East Asia — the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea remains a flashpoint where Houthi rebels have repeatedly targeted naval and commercial shipping in an increasingly brazen campaign of asymmetric warfare.

A decision to sail through the Taiwan Strait would constitute a direct challenge to China’s sovereignty claims and mark a significant escalation in Western naval assertiveness, elevating the risk of military confrontation in one of the world’s most closely surveilled maritime corridors.

Beijing would almost certainly interpret such a passage as an act of provocation, prompting the potential for shadowing by PLAN warships, aerial intercepts by PLA fighter jets, and the use of electronic countermeasures to disrupt Royal Navy operations.

Such actions dramatically raise the stakes for miscalculation, with any incident in these crowded and contested waters risking spiralling conflict between nuclear-armed powers.

China would likely frame the British carrier’s presence as foreign interference in its internal affairs, fuelling nationalist sentiment and hardening its stance toward Western military deployments in Asia.

The UK’s Indo-Pacific ambitions — including its tilt toward greater maritime presence — could be severely tested if its forces are caught in the crosshairs of Beijing’s regional deterrence posture.

A transit through the Taiwan Strait also exposes the Royal Navy to China’s increasingly sophisticated suite of hybrid warfare tools, including cyberattacks, trade retaliation, and disinformation campaigns designed to undermine political will at home and abroad.

Militarily, the strait is ringed with Chinese anti-ship missiles, underwater surveillance arrays, and air defence systems — making it arguably the most dangerous maritime bottleneck on Earth for a Western carrier battle group.

As the crown jewel of the Royal Navy, HMS Prince of Wales will undoubtedly be the focus of intense Chinese surveillance, symbolising not just British naval might, but the West’s broader strategic resolve.

Its presence in such contested waters will send ripples across the Indo-Pacific, prompting regional actors like ASEAN members to recalibrate their hedging strategies between Washington and Beijing.

Conversely, avoiding the Taiwan Strait could be seen as a sign of strategic caution or even retreat, potentially emboldening Beijing while weakening London’s position as a defender of the international maritime order.

The decision on whether or not to sail through the Taiwan Strait has moved beyond tactical considerations — it is now a crucible test of Britain’s Indo-Pacific vision and its willingness to uphold global rules in the face of authoritarian pressure.

Here’s a brief technical specification of the HMS Prince of Wales (R09), one of the Royal Navy’s most advanced aircraft carriers:

HMS Prince of Wales (R09) – Technical Specifications

• Type: Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

• Commissioned: December 2019

• Displacement: Approximately 65,000 tonnes (full load)

• Length: 284 meters (932 feet)

• Beam:

  • 39 meters at the waterline

  • 73 meters across the flight deck

• Propulsion:

  • Integrated electric propulsion (IEP)

  • 2 × Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines

  • 4 × Wärtsilä diesel generators

  • 2 × electric motors

  • Top speed: Over 25 knots (46+ km/h)

• Range: Approximately 10,000 nautical miles

• Crew:

  • Around 700 core crew

  • Can accommodate up to 1,600 personnel with air wing and embarked forces

• Aircraft capacity:

  • Up to 40 aircraft, including:

    • F-35B Lightning II stealth multirole fighters

    • Merlin HM2 or Crowsnest airborne early warning helicopters

    • Wildcat utility and attack helicopters

    • Can surge to 50+ aircraft during high-intensity operations

• Flight deck:

  • Two island superstructures (one for navigation, one for air operations)

  • Ski-jump ramp for launching STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) aircraft like the F-35B

• Radar and Sensors:

  • S1850M 3D air surveillance radar

  • Artisan 3D Type 997 surveillance radar

  • Electro-optical and infrared systems for navigation and defence

• Defensive systems:

  • Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) for missile defence

  • 30mm DS30M Mk2 automatic cannons

  • Machine guns and countermeasures (decoys, chaff/flares)

— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA