Among the allied units involved in the recent French-hosted Exercise ORION in the Western Mediterranean was the British Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan.

The Daring Class warship played one of the ‘enemy’ vessels, whose top priority targets were French strike carrier FS Charles de Gaulle and her escorts plus the two helicopter carriers and their task groups.

Participation in ORION by Duncan came as the UK and French governments pledged to ensure their respective Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) work in harmony to provide Europe with an enhanced power projection capability, both in home waters and Indo-Pacific.

When UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited France earlier this month (March) he and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed their nations will co-ordinate regular deployments between FS Charles de Gaulle and the Royal Navy carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

During Exercise Orion, according to the Royal Navy, HMS Duncan - whose primary job is air-defence of a CSG - put her sensors to the test as she sought out the French task groups.

Duncan tried to remain undetected alongside other vessels in the ‘enemy’ task group, namely the French destroyer FS Chevalier Paul, Italian frigate ITS Luigi Rizzo and American destroyer USS Nitze.

Additional NATO naval units involved in ORION 2023 included Spain’s submarine ESPS Tramontana and frigate ESPS Blas de Lezo while the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) sent the frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provincien.

ORION was the first big exercise for HMS Duncan since a major refit and the Type 45 destroyer’s crew performance was monitored by sea trainers from the UK’s Fleet Operational Sea Training (FOST) organisation.

Post-ORION HMS Duncan headed home to Portsmouth but was soon underway again to continue preparation for a future deployment, carrying out comprehensive combat system trials at the NATO Naval Forces Fleet Operational Readiness Accuracy Check Site (NATO FORACS) in Stavanger, Norway.

• For more on Exercise ORION see the forthcoming May edition of Warships IFR magazine (out on 21.4.23). For other current naval news and analysis get the April edition, which is out now http://bit.ly/wifrmag

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