The UK has said it will send two warships into Asian waters to be permanently based there.
The vessels will be assigned to the Indo-Pacific region from later this year, according to the British defence ministry.
This is set to follow plans for a British aircraft carrier and escort ships to carry out exercises in the Philippine Sea alongside forces from other countries in August.
Plans for the high-profile visit by the carrier strike group come as London deepens security ties with Tokyo, which has expressed growing alarm in recent months over China’s territorial ambitions in the region, including Taiwan.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, has indicated this Royal Navy fleet will sail through disputed waters claimed by China during the operation.
After the group’s first ever deployment, the UK defence ministry said two ships – HMS Spey and HMS Tamar – will be permanently stationed in the Indo-Pacific region.
The offshore patrol vessels will also contribute to a Littoral Response Group in the coming years, according to the department.
They will be depoyed in the Indo-Pacific at the end of this August and will be supported by Australia, Japan and Singapore, among other partners, in their operations.
These ships are two of the Royal Navy’s new offshore patrol vessels, with the HMS Spey – which has a crew of 45 – commissioned into the fleet this week.
“The commissioning of Spey demonstrates a further development to the Royal Navy’s role in Global Britain,” Rear Admiral Simon Asquith OBE from the Royal Navy said on Monday.
He said the vesel will be deployed to the Indo-Asian Pacific region “for the foreseeable future”
“Once deployed, they will work closely with allies and partners to support maritime security in the region,” the Royal Navy’s commander of maritime operations added.
Additional reporting by Reuters
