TAURUS 2009 BEATS ROYAL NAVY OVERSTRETCH

With wars East of Suez sucking the cash out of the defence budget, and the Royal Navy spearheading the fight against the
Taliban in sectors of southern Afghanistan, the British fleet has still, somehow, launched a milestone deployment. Amphibious
warfare ships and frigates departed Plymouth last month (Feb), the culmination of 18 months planning, on the two-phase,
Taurus 09, which will not conclude until August, after more than 20,000 miles of steaming. Including key training in amphibious warfare, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and even jungle warfare, the Taurus agenda will also aim to support active Maritime
Security Operations - including anti-piracy and counter-terrorism beyond Suez - as well as Defence Diplomacy and reinforcing
long-standing strategic partnerships. Spearheaded by the UK amphibious warfare flagship, and LPD, HMS Bulwark, plus assault carrier HMS Ocean, the task group numbers ten major surface vessels, including the French frigate FS Dupleix and American destroyer USS Mitscher, plus a pair of unnamed RN Trafalgar Class hunter-killer submarines. In an interview aboard Bulwark
the day before ships deployed, the RN’s Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, reflected that it was a large commitment “bearing in mind the current stretch around the Navy.” Admiral Stanhope, who is to be First Sea Lord from summer
2009, explained why Taurus was worth the effort: “The reason for doing this is that, while Afghanistan is today’s focus, we have
to be prepared for the future and the uncertainties that entails.” Admiral Stanhope added: “I have to ensure there is enough fundamental capability in the Navy to deliver, if required, an amphibious force.” He also gave the opinion that for a navy to be considered premiere league it must fulfil certain requirements and one of them is the ability to deploy, as well as command and control, such a task group at a long distance for some months. Clearly, despite declining ship numbers, and the heavy commitment
to Afghanistan of marines, sailors and aviators, the British fleet is determined to demonstrate it is still in the top rank. Admiral
Stanhope observed: “The only way we can be sure that we can deliver that within a particular time-scale is to do it.” He admitted
that putting together the task group had by no means been easy. “It has been a challenge,” said the admiral. “The focus of our business is quite rightly Afghanistan and Iraq and, in a purely naval sense, operations in the Gulf and also against piracy, not forgetting other draws on maritime forces elsewhere in the world.” As set out by the current First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon
Band, in his ‘Flag Hoist’ to the fleet, a high priority in 2009 is the preservation and development of “the minimum ‘seed corn’ warfighting capability” in ASW and littoral manoeuvre operations. Taurus 09 will tick the box for both. Admiral Stanhope observed:
“It is a question of time fade - if you don’t do these things regularly enough then seed corn capability can be reduced.” To that end,
in addition to 40 Commando Royal Marines embarking in task group ships for exercises, there are Merlin ASW helicopters
deployed with Ocean. Taurus 09 frigate HMS Somerset is one of the most modern sub hunters in the RN. There is no UK destroyer assigned to the task group. British destroyer numbers are currently at an all-time low, with three Type 42s taken out of front line
service at the end of last year, leaving just five and with only one replacement ship (Daring) close to entering service. However, Admiral Stanhope made it clear assignment of a French frigate and an American destroyer to Taurus was not a case of “back-filling”
for lack of a British destroyer. CINC Fleet stressed that the deployment was very much about multinational command and control.
He considered that, ideally, he would have liked to see a UK destroyer in the force, but it was not possible. Admiral Stanhope conceded: “We are stretched in terms of my ability to cover all of current tasks.” Commander UK Amphibious Task Group,
Commodore Peter Hudson, is the at-sea commander of Taurus 09. Last year he commanded the key coalition Combined Task
Group 152 (CTF-152) in the central Gulf. He said his time in Bahrain had given him insight into the level of connectivity needed
to run a task group. With his embarked staff officers - particularly a new intelligence cell - Cdre Hudson will keep an eye on the emerging situation as the deployment develops. This will particularly apply East of Suez when operating close to the anti-piracy
CTF-151, when it is intended support will be provided for its ongoing operations. Deputy Brigade Commander, 3 Commando
Brigade Royal Marines, Colonel Martin L. Smith who has been on deployment to Afghanistan, is in charge of the Royal Marines element of Taurus. He welcomed the opportunity for Britain’s sea soldiers to get back to their traditional skills after several years mainly occupied in fighting the Taliban in a landlocked country. Colonel Smith said: “Clearly, Afghanistan is very challenging
but there are levels of complexity that you obviously cannot access on land. We don’t know what is going to hit us next, so it is essential to maintain amphibious capability. It is a very perishable skill.” The Ministry of Defence has stated that, at its height
more than 3,000 UK military personnel will be involved. A UK MoD briefing document outlined how Taurus breaks down:
‘Phase One will involve amphibious training with nations in the Mediterranean, culminating in a series of amphibious
landings in Turkey as part of a joint and combined exercise. Phase Two will see part of the Task Group deploy through the
Suez Canal, culminating in a multinational training package in the primary jungles of Brunei. Riverine training will also be
conducted with the Bangladeshi Navy, the first such interaction in more than a decade.’ As ever the British fleet is seeking
to squeeze as much as possible out of scarce resources as it can, to maximise the presence of the White Ensign on the high seas.