'Greatest defence asset' HMS Queen Elizabeth sails to Belfast in geo-strategic visit to Northern Ireland

A powerful Royal Navy aircraft carrier has sailed to Northern Ireland in the first visit for its kind in several decades.

HMS Queen Elizabeth has docked in Belfast on the recent leg of her operational calendar. Spectacular drone footage captured the moment the 65,000 tonne warship sailed into port.

The Belfast Newsletter reports that the ship’s company is set for a four day diplomatic engagement in the Northern Irish capital. HMS Queen Elizabeth, currently assigned as Nato’s strategic command platform, was previously carrying out workup trials with allies in the North Atlantic and High North - areas where Russia has been bolstering its fleet of submarines to threaten British infrastructure.

Former First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord West of Spithead, stressed the importance of the Royal Navy having a presence around the island of Ireland. Speaking in the recently published report, Rediscovering Northern Ireland’s Role in British National Security, the Labour peer said: “There is no doubt that for reasons of geography the island of Ireland has considerable strategic importance to the UK and Nato.

“The Western Approaches and wider Atlantic and Arctic oceans and their sea-beds have become the front line in the grey war that Russia is waging. To counter this we need bases ‘up threat’, which means West of the UK mainland, should hot war break out bases in Northern Ireland become even more crucial.”

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Under Nato’s command, HMS Queen Elizabeth will conduct an intense programme of training and operations with allied nations over a three month period. Advanced training will be carried out under the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) organisation, which will make sure the 65,000 tonne warship and her company of more than 800 will be prepared for any scenario. The £3.2bn warship is the Afloat Command Platform for Nato’s Allied Reaction Force (Maritime) (ARF(M)).

It’s the first time that a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has visited Belfast since 1965. Northern Irish politician Jim Allister, Traditional Unionist Voice MP for North Antrim, said: “The arrival of one of the UK’s greatest defence assets in Northern Ireland today affords an opportunity to highlight the special geo-strategic significance of Northern Ireland to the defence of the United Kingdom.

“Northern Ireland played a key role in the defence of the UK, and indeed Western Europe, during the Second World War. In the context of Russia’s new maritime doctrine, this has become very important once again.”