After five months operating in the Indo-Pacific, the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has returned to the Mediterranean to lead the UK Carrier Strike Group in one of the most complex multinational drills of the year: the Italian-led Exercise Falcon Strike 25.
The Royal Navy flagship is now embarked with an unprecedented complement of 24 F-35B Lightning II jets — the highest number of fifth-generation fighters ever seen on a British carrier. The aircraft come from 809 Naval Air Squadron and 617 Squadron (the “Dambusters”), both of which are now integrated aboard HMS Prince of Wales to take part in the exercise.
Exercise Falcon Strike, hosted by the Italian Air Force, brings together British, Italian, U.S., and Greek units for large-scale air and maritime operations supporting NATO. Throughout the two-week drill, UK F-35Bs will conduct day- and night-time scenarios designed to test interoperability, long-range coordination, and the full integration of fifth-generation aircraft with allied air and naval forces.
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, described the Mediterranean phase as a crucial test of readiness:
“It is fantastic to be back in the Mediterranean after a hugely successful period in the Indo-Pacific and a transit of the Red Sea. The upcoming exercises with NATO allies will be a real demonstration of the warfighting readiness of the UK Carrier Strike Group.”
The current deployment — lasting eight months and spanning over 26,000 nautical miles — has seen the task group engage with around 40 nations, reinforcing London’s role as a major European naval power. The Prince of Wales returned to the region through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, resuming its NATO duties after operating east of Singapore and Japan.
The strike group, now numbering roughly 4,000 personnel, includes HMS Dauntless (Type 45 destroyer), HMS Richmond (Type 23 frigate), and the Italian frigate ITS Luigi Rizzo, which joined for this Mediterranean phase alongside Norwegian and British escorts. While in Souda Bay (Crete), HMS Prince of Wales completed a brief stopover during which Captain Will Blackett handed command of the ship to Captain Ben Power, before the group continued westward for the exercise.
Meanwhile, HMS Richmond has been operating with the Greek Navy in anti-submarine warfare drills, and HMS Dauntless has conducted a remembrance service at the Commonwealth War Graves in Souda Bay — a symbolic pause amid the intense operational tempo.
The arrival of the British carrier in the central Mediterranean coincides with heightened regional military activity. Across Italian airbases — from Amendola to Decimomannu — aircraft from multiple NATO nations have been flying daily sorties for Falcon Strike 25, with F-35s, Eurofighter Typhoons, and support assets carrying out integrated missions over the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ionian Sea.
For NATO, the participation of HMS Prince of Wales adds a powerful maritime dimension to what is primarily an air-led exercise. It provides a rare opportunity to coordinate carrier-borne F-35Bs with land-based counterparts from Italy and the United States, demonstrating the alliance’s ability to project advanced airpower seamlessly between sea and land.
In the words of Commodore Blackmore, the deployment embodies the UK’s long-term commitment to NATO’s southern flank and to joint fifth-generation operations. For observers and analysts alike, it also marks another step toward the Royal Navy’s full maturity in operating large-scale carrier strike missions within a multinational framework — one that now, once again, centers on the Mediterranean.
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