British warship fires gun near Falklands in deterrence drill

HMS Medway recently carried out live machine gun firings at the edge of the Falkland Islands Conservation Zone during a four-day patrol at the end of July, British Forces South Atlantic Islands stated.

The patrol, designated Operation Southern Vigilance, ran from 26 to 29 July. The ship’s company fired mounted machine guns and worked through a man overboard exercise alongside an RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft, work the command describes as maintaining operational readiness. According to BFSAI, the deployment demonstrated the UK’s enduring commitment to the Falkland Islands by maintaining a visible presence and a capable force, helping to deter potential adversaries.

The Falkland Islands Conservation Zone extends 150 nautical miles from the centre of the archipelago and was established in 1990 to manage fish stocks, principally squid, which underpin a large share of the islands’ economy. Licensing and enforcement within it fall to the Falkland Islands Government, with the Royal Navy providing the deterrent presence and the fisheries patrol vessel Lilibet carrying out routine inspection work.

HMS Medway is a River-class offshore patrol vessel commissioned in 2019 and took over the South Atlantic Patrol Task from HMS Forth, which held the role for several years after replacing HMS Clyde. The class displaces around 2,000 tonnes and carries a 30mm gun, machine guns and a flight deck able to take a Merlin, with an endurance suited to long independent patrols in remote waters.

The ship is the only Royal Navy vessel permanently assigned to the region. British Forces South Atlantic Islands also operates Typhoon fighters and A400M and Voyager aircraft from RAF Mount Pleasant on East Falkland, alongside an infantry company, Rapier’s successor Sky Sabre air defence and a radar station on Mount Byron.

HMS Medway has remained active around the Falkland Islands since the exercise. Last month, members of the ship’s Senior Rates were ashore in Port Stanley, where they helped the Lighthouse Seafarers Mission prepare for renovations.

This is not the first British deterrence and sovereignty operation in the South Atlantic in recent times, with HMS Forth and RAF aircraft previously taking part in Operation Southern Sovereignty earlier this year to demonstrate the ability to project force across the region and deter aggression.

Argentina continues to claim the islands, which it calls the Malvinas, and raises the question annually at the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation. The British position rests on the 2013 referendum in which islanders voted by 1,513 votes to three to remain a British Overseas Territory.

Editor’s note: BFSAI puts the live firing under training serials and applies the deterrence line to Operation Southern Vigilance as a whole. It is my view that the gunnery was highlighted precisely as part of the overall presence and deterrence point. Nobody publicises machine gun drills for the sake of it.

A patrol vessel deters by being present and visibly able to do something about it, and a crew that has not fired its weapons in months is neither. Leaving that out would report the operation less accurately than the command described it. On Argentina, BFSAI says “potential adversaries” and stops. There is one country with a standing claim to the islands. Writing around that would be coy.