Source: United States Navy
Good afternoon, everyone! It is wonderful to be with you here at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
This is my second visit to the United Kingdom as the United States’ 78th Secretary of the Navy, and I cannot thank you enough for your warm welcome and the gracious hospitality my staff and I have received during our time here thus far.
Vice Admiral Connell, thank you for your kind introduction, for your decades of service in the Royal Navy, and for your commitment to a strong transatlantic alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Although they are not present at today’s event, I would be remiss if did not thank His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States, Dame Karen Pierce, the Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, and the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Benjamin Key, for their partnership and their friendship as we work together to strengthen the bonds that connect our maritime forces.
As I prepared for my remarks today, I noted that the mission of the Royal United Services Institute is to inform, influence, and enhance public debate to help build a safer and more stable world.
To that end, before I take your questions, I would like to spend a few minutes discussing the global challenges we face today, the importance of the strong transatlantic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States from a naval perspective, and how we are working alongside our British counterparts in support of a safer and more economically prosperous world.
Now, despite getting off to a rough start during the 18th and early 19th centuries, for over a century now, our two nations have stood side-by-side, defending our shared ideals of freedom, democracy, and prosperity in the face of totalitarian regimes and international acts of terrorism.
Today, while our alliance remains as strong as ever, the world around us continues to change at a lightning pace.
The Atlantic Ocean remains a vital conduit connecting not only our two nations, but dozens of countries across four continents—both through maritime trade and information passed through undersea data cables.
The Atlantic is one of the world’s heaviest traveled oceans and the volume of commercial goods transiting its shipping lanes rivals that of the Pacific.
We are witnessing increased investments across multiple industrial sectors, including energy exploration, that will only increase its importance as a driver of international economic growth and prosperity.
However, future security in the Atlantic hinges on our ability to address our common challenges in the maritime domain.
These challenges include adapting to the effects of climate change, deterring piracy, combatting narcotics and human trafficking, and countering Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing.
We are committed to working with all of our Atlantic partners and allies—across Europe, Africa, as well as North, Central, and South America—to achieve lasting solutions that preserve our shared maritime economic resources.
And as we look across the Atlantic, it is imperative that we also give due attention to the increased activity in the Arctic region.
Last year, we welcomed Finland—an Arctic nation and fellow member of the Arctic Council—into NATO, and we look forward to Sweden becoming a NATO member in the near future.
The Arctic region indeed represents the northern flank of our alliance, along waters where Russia’s naval and commercial fleets are increasingly active.
Our world’s changing climate brings with it increased access to shipping lanes that are normally frozen-over for long periods of time, as well as access to undersea resources for further exploration.
With this increased access comes increased competition, and given Russia’s stance towards NATO, the alliance is rightfully wary of Moscow’s intentions and actions in the region.
As the 2022 NATO Strategic Concept states, “In the High North, Russia’s capability to disrupt Allied reinforcements and freedom of navigation across the North Atlantic is a strategic challenge to the Alliance.”
With that statement as our guide, it is imperative that we ensure our approach to operating in the Arctic focuses on our combined resiliency in the region, and preserves our ability to freely maneuver in a contested maritime domain.
And along NATO’s eastern flank, Russia’s illegal war of aggression continues in Ukraine, and Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative is negatively impacting food security around the world—especially in developing nations—as it continues to imperil the safety of commercial ships sailing in and out of Ukrainian ports.
Since the outset of the conflict nearly two years ago, we have been proud to support our Ukrainian partners—working alongside the United Kingdom to ensure they have the material support and training required to reclaim their national and territorial sovereignty.
And I commend the United Kingdom on its recent announcement of an additional 2.5 billion pounds—roughly 3.2 billion U.S. dollars—in military aid to our partners in Ukraine.
Your assistance to Ukraine during a pivotal time in their war with Russia complements the military and humanitarian aid packages they have already received from several NATO and EU nations, all of which are representative of our collective, continued support for Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.
Stability in the Black Sea region is critical to the future stability of Europe, and we are committed to supporting Ukraine, our NATO allies, and our European partners in the face of Russian aggression.
However, it is important to recognize that Moscow isn’t the only authoritarian regime waging a concerted campaign to challenge the freedom of the seas—a foundational principle of the rules-based system of international law that has brought us peace, prosperity, and stability since the end of World War II.
Iran, too, continues to interfere with merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through a campaign of harassment and seizures with its para-naval forces.
Just two weeks ago, Iran seized a tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
More significantly, the Iranian-aligned Houthis continue to launch unprovoked attacks on civilian merchant ships sailing innocently through international waters in the Red Sea—one of the world’s busiest waterways that accounts for more than 15% of the world’s shipping traffic, connecting Europe and Asia.
Over 20 countries have now joined the United Kingdom and the United States in Operation Prosperity Guardian, aimed at protecting civilian ships and their crews from harm.
Six of our coalition navies’ destroyers—including HMS Diamond—have shot down scores of anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones launched by the Houthis over the Red Sea.
Our ships and crews have performed with exemplary skill, represented by successful surface-to-air scorecards not seen at this scale in naval combat in decades.
What’s more, our ships have also worked together to counter acts of piracy, and have responded to distress calls issued by merchant ships under siege.
Two weeks ago, following exhaustive diplomatic efforts to seek an end to the Houthi’s attacks without further damage and bloodshed, the combined forces of the United Kingdom and the United States, supported by our Dutch, Canadian, Bahraini, and Australian allies, conducted our first round of joint strikes against more than 60 targets in portions of Houthi-controlled Yemen.
And earlier this week, we conducted a second round of joint U.S.-UK precision strikes against eight Houthi targets—including underground storage sites and locations associated with the group’s missile and air surveillance capabilities—with the support of the same allies and partners.
These strikes are in direct response to Houthi actions that have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice the innocent lives of civilian merchant mariners from several nations across the globe, threatening our collective freedom of navigation and the very economic security of our nations on some of the world’s busiest international waterways.
Iran—through its Houthi proxies—aims to impose real economic costs on the rest of the world by increasing shipping costs and maritime insurance rates—as well as the time it takes goods to reach their intended ports.
Make no mistake, these costs aren’t borne by Iran. Rather, they are a burden on the everyday American, Briton, and European, and are paid for at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at the pharmacy, not to mention the delays in the shipping of everyday household items.
The Houthis’ actions in the Red Sea are sending reverberations across the global economy, and are felt in almost every facet of our lives.
It is imperative that we—not just the U.S. and United Kingdom, but along with NATO and the European Union—stand together and take the necessary diplomatic and military actions to bring an end to the Houthi’s disruption of the free flow of maritime commerce.
We cannot—will not—hesitate to counter those who threaten safe passage across our global maritime commons, even if it comes at a great cost.
Earlier this week, we suspended the search for two U.S. Navy SEALS we lost at-sea—Petty Officer First Class Christopher Chambers and Petty Officer Second Class Nathan Ingram—during an interdiction of Iranian lethal aid to the Houthis.
We will honor these men and their ultimate sacrifice by continuing to counter Iran’s malign actions in our shared maritime commons as they attempt to spread their influence across the region, and across the world.
Our collective defense of international maritime shipping during this period of conflict is one of just many examples of our commitment to maritime security in the Middle East and economic prosperity here in the UK, home in the United States, and around the world.
Combined Maritime Forces—of which the Royal Navy’s Commodore Mark Anderson serves as the deputy commander—is a coalition of 39 nations focused on promoting security, stability, and prosperity across 3.2 million square miles of international waters.
The United Kingdom’s leading role in this maritime coalition that addresses a range of concerns from piracy, terrorism, training, and security cooperation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is a recognition of the fact that our navies remain a critical element to upholding the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea for the benefit of all countries.
And equally as important to stability of our global maritime commons is the Royal Navy’s increased presence throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Renewed British engagement in this vital region could not come at a more pivotal time, as our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific with other like-minded nations is being challenged.
As many in this room are aware, the People’s Republic of China continues to act aggressively, provocatively, and unsafely across the Indo-Pacific region, including in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
The PRC’s Navy—the PLAN—is just one part of the maritime force Beijing employs to advance its aggressive foreign policy, challenging the rules-based international order.
The PLAN, in concert with its Coast Guard and Maritime Militia, are conducting operations designed to force nations to submit to Beijing’s excessive territorial claims—some of which have been challenged and ruled illegal by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.
Using these “gray zone” operations, the PRC is staking illegal maritime claims to offshore resources that threaten the peace, prosperity, and ecological stability of the world’s oceans.
The PRC seeks to exploit its growing economic and military power to coerce its neighbors and threaten their interests while undermining our alliances and security partnerships.
In the face of the PRC’s actions, we are committed to working with the Royal Navy, as well as the navies of our partners and allies throughout the Indo-Pacific, to build up the resiliency of relationships, enabling us to withstand its continued pattern of maritime aggression.
In support of the Royal Navy’s renewed presence in the region, we were proud to operate alongside the HMS Queen Elizabeth during her maiden deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2021, which included an embarked squadron of U.S. F-35s and USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) joining the strike group.
And since 2021, the Royal Navy’s off-shore patrol vessels HMS Spey and HMS Tamar have been on a five-year deployment to the Indo-Pacific—supported by rotational crews—carrying out security patrols aimed at countering narcotics, smuggling, and other illegal activities, while participating in exercises with our fellow maritime nations.
Beyond this sustained surface posture, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States are proud members of the AUKUS security partnership—a generational opportunity announced in September 2021 and re-affirmed by President Biden, Prime Minister Sunak, and Prime Minister Albanese early last year in San Diego, California.
Pillar I of AUKUS is focused on enabling Australia’s acquisition of a nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed submarine fleet for the Royal Australian Navy.
The class of submarines being developed under Pillar I, dubbed SSN-AUKUS, will combine the submarine and design technologies of our two nations to provide our Australian allies with a capable, lethal undersea deterrent capability, and will also enter into service in the Royal Navy as the follow-on to the Astute-Class SSNs.
We are grateful for the leading role that the British Submarine Industrial Base is playing in the design and construction of the initial hulls, as well as your commitment to training Australian civilians and Sailors to ensure this capability is leveraged effectively and in a sustainable manner.
It is critical that all three of our nations have healthy and resilient submarine industrial capabilities and capacity to ensure the success of SSN-AUKUS.
And efforts such as BAE Systems’ submarine Skills Academy in Barrow are crucial to ensuring we have the workforce required for this monumental task.
As part of AUKUS, we will also begin deploying Virginia and Astute-Class submarines to Australia as a part of Submarine Rotational Force-West, based out of HMAS Stirling, providing a constant, forward presence of our undersea fleets.
Our presence at HMAS Stirling will be essential for developing vital skills necessary to establish, operate, and sustain the Royal Australian Navy’s future nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
As President Biden noted, “Our unprecedented trilateral cooperation is a testament to the strength of the longstanding ties that unite us and to our shared commitment of ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains free and open, prosperous and secure, defined by opportunity for all—a shared commitment to create a future rooted in our common values.”
And as we look towards the future of the Royal Navy’s presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of our shared commitment, we look forward to the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group’s first deployment to the Pacific in 2025.
The United States Navy and Marine Corps are committed to working alongside the United Kingdom to contribute to the success of this deployment.
These types of operations are directly supported by key strategic bilateral partnership arrangements such as the recently renewed Statement of Intent on Enhanced Cooperation on Carrier Operations and Maritime Power Projection.
Last month, HMS Prince of Wales returned home to Portsmouth following three months of training off the East Coast of the United States, during which she and her crew conducted flight operations with our fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, validating the interoperability of our forces.
As a part of this deployment, I had the privilege of visiting her during a port visit to Norfolk, Virginia.
To say I was impressed by the ship and her crew would be an understatement, and my engagements with Captain Hewitt and his sailors reinforced in me the strength of the ties between our two navies, and indeed our two nations.
And it is my hope that our Sailors took advantage of this opportunity to strengthen the bonds that tie us together—whether it was during operations at-sea or while on liberty.
We are further advancing the depth and breadth of our bilateral maritime partnership through the updated strategic “Delivering Combined Seapower” charter, signed in October onboard the HMS Prince of Wales by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Key, our Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Franchetti, and our Commandant of the Marine Corps General Smith.
This agreement re-affirms that we are working closely on the common challenges we face, as well as our need to deliver capabilities that enhance our ability to operate together, such as re-arming and refueling sea.
As Admiral Sir Key stated at the signing ceremony, “This Charter is testament to the enduring strength of the relationship between our navies and marines. By aligning our strategies and capabilities, we strengthen our ability to deter threats, respond to crises, and promote stability across the world’s oceans.”
And as we examine how best to identify, experiment, adopt, and field new, advanced, capabilities into our fleets, we remain steadfast in our support of key Royal Navy programs.
For example, our team at Naval Reactors is working closely with their British counterparts on the design, build, and test of the nuclear propulsion plant to support the Royal Navy’s future Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarines—a platform critical to the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrence posture.
We are also interested in learning from you, especially when it comes to improving fleet readiness.
BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow-in-Furness—the yard responsible for construction of the Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS submarine classes—is a prime example through its use of Ship Lift, a cost-effective and flexible alternative to graving docks.
Ship Lift represents an innovative approach to fleet maintenance and construction, and we look forward to exploring how we can incorporate practices and capabilities such as this into our own fleet maintenance processes.
On the advanced capabilities front, our Office of Naval Research, through ONR-Global—headquartered here in London—and NavalX’s London Tech Bridge, whose team I met with during my last trip, continue to drive partnerships between the U.S. and Royal Navies, allowing us to source technologies and accelerate the adoption of innovative capabilities.
From managing bilateral and multi-lateral research and development agreements to forging new relationships with industry and academia across the UK and throughout Europe, our ONR and NavalX teams are working tirelessly to deliver the cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to maintain their competitive advantages.
Everything we do together—from increasing the interoperability of our fleets, collaborating on next-generation platforms, developing advanced technologies and capabilities—will be critical to the success of our navies in the decades to come.
In this era of intense maritime competition, our nations will continue to rely on our navies to project power and defend our shared interests on a global scale—from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, and throughout the Indo-Pacific.
When I called for a new maritime statecraft in my address at Harvard University this past fall, I defined a core tenet of our approach as cooperation on shared challenges in the maritime domain with our international partners and allies.
Our nation’s most prominent naval strategist, Alfred Thayer Mahan, argued that naval power begets maritime commercial power, and control of maritime commerce begets greater naval power—an argument based on his study of the United Kingdom’s rise to prominence as a seafaring nation.
While Mahan’s writings have stood the test of time, we also recognize that comprehensive maritime power—commercial and naval—in today’s era is built through strong relationships with like-minded countries who share our commitment to freedom of the seas, driving global economic prosperity.
It also requires consistent, robust investment on the part of the American and British people, and it is our responsibility, as we are currently doing so in the Red Sea and globally, to provide a significant return on that investment.
It is incumbent upon us—the United Kingdom and the United States of America, two of the world’s great maritime powers—to continue making investments, to continue working together, and to build our shared capacity and capabilities.
Now as never before, we must redouble our commitment to upholding the free and lawful use of the maritime commons on behalf of all nations.
As I conclude my remarks, I will end with a quote from Sir Winston Churchill:
“We have surmounted all the perils and endured all the agonies of the past. We shall provide against and thus prevail over the dangers and problems of the future, withhold no sacrifice, grudge no toil, seek no sordid gain, fear no foe. All will be well. We have, I believe, within us the life-strength and guiding light by which the tormented world around us may find the harbour of safety, after a storm-beaten voyage.”
Around the globe, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Arctic Circle to the southernmost stretches of the world—the United Kingdom and the United States of America proudly sail together so that “Freedom’s Torch” will continue to shine brightly for all.
May God continue to grant our nations and our navies fair winds and following seas wherever we may sail.
Thank you.