2024-02-04T14:52:47+00:00
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/ A technical glitch has delayed the sailing of a British aircraft carrier that was scheduled to lead the largest NATO maneuvers since the Cold War.
The Royal Navy said that the aircraft carrier “Queen Elizabeth” will not sail on Sunday, as planned, as it is scheduled to sail instead for NATO exercises, which will be held off the coast of Arctic Norway, the aircraft carrier “Prince of Wales”, according to Reuters.
With the exclusion of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, the British Navy may not be able to deploy aircraft to the Red Sea as suggested by Armed Forces Minister James Heappey, amid increasing hostilities with the Iranian-backed Houthi group targeting shipping in the sea linking Asia to Europe and the United States.
NATO has begun organizing large-scale military maneuvers, the largest since the Cold War, with tens of thousands of soldiers participating. The alliance called the maneuvers “Steadfast Defender 24,” and said that they will see the participation of 90,000 soldiers, 50 ships from aircraft carriers to destroyers, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones, and more than 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.