moughoun
05-19-2004, 11:45 AM
HMS Albion Is All Tanked Up and Ready to Go
(Source: Royal Navy; issued May 17, 2004)
Devonport based amphibious assault ship HMS Albion is all tanked up and on her way to the east coast of America for a major US-led multi-national exercise known as Exercise Rapid Alliance. For the first time the ship is carrying four Challenger II main battle tanks of the1st Royal Tank Regiment.
The Challenger II tanks forms the heart of the British Army’s armored capability yet have never previously been deployed in a warship to form part of an amphibious landing force. The four tanks will join French armored reconnaissance vehicles as well as the vehicles of the Royal Marines and the Dutch Marine Corps for the exercise, which will be conducted on the US Marine Corps training areas in North Carolina.
Captain Peter Hudson, the Commanding Officer of HMS Albion said: “This trial with the Challenger II brings a potent new dimension to the landing force capability, providing a variety of exciting options to exploit in the littoral environment. HMS Albion is an extremely versatile warship, we can embark a range of equipment optimized for the threat and the potential operating area as well as providing the essential command and control facilities for the Brigade and Amphibious Task Group Commanders.”
HMS Albion is part of the Royal Navy’s Aurora 04 deployment. The Task Group also includes Devonport based HMS Ocean and the Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland along with HMS Marlborough and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels. The core of the landing force in made up of Bickleigh based 42 Commando Royal Marines and a battalion of the 1st Royal Netherlands Marine Corps battalion.
The ships will be joined off the US by another UK Task Group led by the Aircraft Carrier HMS Invincible and including Devonport based HMS Cornwall and a mine counter measures group in what is the largest maritime deployment for many years.
Exercise Rapid Alliance is a large-scale exercise designed to take forward allied interoperability afloat and on land, together with US, Canadian, Dutch, French and German forces.
(Source: Royal Navy; issued May 17, 2004)
Devonport based amphibious assault ship HMS Albion is all tanked up and on her way to the east coast of America for a major US-led multi-national exercise known as Exercise Rapid Alliance. For the first time the ship is carrying four Challenger II main battle tanks of the1st Royal Tank Regiment.
The Challenger II tanks forms the heart of the British Army’s armored capability yet have never previously been deployed in a warship to form part of an amphibious landing force. The four tanks will join French armored reconnaissance vehicles as well as the vehicles of the Royal Marines and the Dutch Marine Corps for the exercise, which will be conducted on the US Marine Corps training areas in North Carolina.
Captain Peter Hudson, the Commanding Officer of HMS Albion said: “This trial with the Challenger II brings a potent new dimension to the landing force capability, providing a variety of exciting options to exploit in the littoral environment. HMS Albion is an extremely versatile warship, we can embark a range of equipment optimized for the threat and the potential operating area as well as providing the essential command and control facilities for the Brigade and Amphibious Task Group Commanders.”
HMS Albion is part of the Royal Navy’s Aurora 04 deployment. The Task Group also includes Devonport based HMS Ocean and the Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland along with HMS Marlborough and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels. The core of the landing force in made up of Bickleigh based 42 Commando Royal Marines and a battalion of the 1st Royal Netherlands Marine Corps battalion.
The ships will be joined off the US by another UK Task Group led by the Aircraft Carrier HMS Invincible and including Devonport based HMS Cornwall and a mine counter measures group in what is the largest maritime deployment for many years.
Exercise Rapid Alliance is a large-scale exercise designed to take forward allied interoperability afloat and on land, together with US, Canadian, Dutch, French and German forces.