Britain’s amphibious task group has left the Eastern Mediterranean and arrived in India for an exercise, appearing to close down the ability of the Royal Navy to join an operation to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea.
RFA Argus and RFA Lyme Bay had been poised in the Eastern Mediterranean since last October in response to the Gaza conflict, but the ships, which have hundreds of Royal Marines and three Merlin transport helicopters embarked, have now received alternative tasking.
The ships were filmed last week by the BBC sailing through the Red Sea and pictures emerged on social media on 26 March showing them docked in the Indian port of Kattupalli. Royal Navy sources say the Littoral Response Group (South) or LRG(S), as the task force is officially titled, is expected to participate in joint exercises with the Indian military for several weeks.
Tim Ripley has been writing on defence issues since 1990, for a wide range of British and international publications. He has reported from conflict zones in the Balkans and Middle East, as well as major defence and aerospace industry exhibitions around the world. Recent assignments include the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, the Farnborough, Paris, Dubai and Singapore Airshows, NATO Headquarters in Brussels, The Hague war crimes tribunal and the Pentagon in Washington DC.
His news reporting and features have appeared in the mainstream news media (The Sunday Telegraph, The Economist, The Scotsman) as well as specialist defence publications (Jane's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's Sentinel, Air Forces Monthly, Air International, Defence Helicopter, Unmanned Vehicles, Flight International, Flight Daily News, World Air Power Journal, International Air Power Review)
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