The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (or JEF(M)) (formerly the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), and prior to that the

Joint Rapid Reaction Force The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) was a capability concept of the British Armed Forces from 1999 to 2010. It was a pool of specialised units from all three armed services tasked with Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment worldwide at short ...

(JRRF)), is the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at very high-readiness and available at short notice to respond to unexpected global events.The Response Force Task Group (RFTG) – The UK's Very High Readiness Maritime Force
Royal Navy (PDF), Retrieved 3 June 2014 In addition to the Royal Navy and the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

, the JEF(M) also includes elements of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. While it is primarily poised to conduct war-fighting or strike operations, the JEF(M) is capable of undertaking a diverse range of activities such as evacuation operations, disaster relief or humanitarian aid.Royal Navy ready for unforeseen global events
gov.uk, 9 May 2011 Under the name of RFTG, this high-readiness Maritime Task Group was established under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, and was initially focused on periodic deployments centered around amphibious shipping, initially termed ''Cougar'' deployments,HMS Bulwark prepares for major deployment
gov.uk, 15 September 2016 but now named according to the focus of the main activity; although not mandated as an annual activity, these deployments tend to alternate between operating in North West Europe and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, and deploying

East of Suez ''East of Suez'' is a term used in United Kingdom, British military and political discussions in reference to interests east of the Suez Canal, and may or may not include the Middle East.

to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. On these deployments, the Task Group regularly conducts exercises with allies and partners. As a Task Group, the RFTG was activated on operations during the

2011 Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

, provided humanitarian aid during

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...

in 2013, and elements were activated to deploy to the Caribbean in 2020 under an augmented Atlantic Patrol Task (North) deployment. As of late 2024, the U.K.'s capacity to make major contributions to JEF(M) was brought into question with the decision by the newly-elected Labour government to retire both of the Royal Navy's vessels by March 2025. Simultaneously, the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

was suffering severe crewing problems, as well as a labour force disruption, meaning the manning of its three vessels was facing serious challenges. This brought into question the entire concept of the navy's ability to conduct even medium-sized amphibious operations.

Command structure

The JEF(M) is usually commanded at sea by an officer the rank of Commodore, who can be either the Commander of the UK Littoral Strike Group (COMLSG, formerly named COMATG) or Commander of the UK

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer Squadron (naval), squad ...

(COMCSG), depending on the focus of the deployment; the Command Platform will be either an Albion-class LPD or a

Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier The ''Queen Elizabeth''-class aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy consists of two vessels. The lead ship of her class, , was named on 4 July 2014 in honour of Elizabeth I and was ship commissioning, commissioned on 7 December ...

. For a major deployment of the JEF(M) (acting as a Task Force, consisting of more than one Task Group), the formation will be commanded by Commander United Kingdom Strike Forces (COMUKSTRKFOR) who is responsible for directing "UK, Allied or Coalition maritime forces anywhere in the world". In the RFTG era, Command of the Task Group was usuallyRoyal Navy sails for annual ‘Cougar’ deployment
royalnavy.mod.uk, 9 August 2013 (but not exclusively) exercised by the Commander of the Amphibious Task Group (COMATG), renamed as Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG) from 2011 to 2015.Royal Navy Task Force departs on Cougar 14
royalnavy.mod.uk, 1 September 2014 Since 2015, periodic deployments have continued this pattern, with all recent iterations being commanded by COMATG (now termed COMLSG), but since the introduction into

service of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, it is likely that future deployments of the JEF(M) will be under the afloat Command of COMCSG.

Composition

The "scaleable nature" of the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) means the Royal Navy has assigned a wide range of assets to the force, with its composition changing depending on the scenario and the range of ships available.

Operational history

Cougar 11 deployment

In April 2011, the Response Force Task Group deployed for the first time since its announced establishment in October 2010. The deployment was "designed to demonstrate the versatile capabilities and high readiness" of the Response Force Task Group and engage with foreign allies in the

and

. On 9 May (en route to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

), seven senior NCOs and the Officer Commanding the Support Troop from 6 Assault Squadron Royal Marines held a service of remembrance at the Souda Bay Commonwealth Grave site in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bitter battle for the island. ''Cougar 11'' saw, for the first time,

AgustaWestland Apache attack helicopters operating from the decks of a Royal Navy warship, HMS ''Ocean''. During the deployment the RFTG was involved in several multinational exercises: The first was 'Cypriot Lion' which included

from 40 Commando, elements of

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

HQ and a detachment from the

Netherlands Marine Corps The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps () is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy, one of the four Netherlands Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The marines trace their origins to the establishme ...

. The second major exercise was code-named 'Albanian Lion', a joint UK-

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n military exercise and the first joint operation between the UK and the Albanian Armed Forces since Albania joined NATO in 2009. The third major exercise was code-named 'Operation Red Alligator', described as a "major maritime security and anti-piracy exercise", it took place in the Persian Gulf with the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia. With the ongoing Civil War in Libya, on the 3 June 2011, five ships of the Response Force Task Group were temporarily detached and deployed off the Libyan coast as part of

Operation Ellamy Operation Ellamy was the codename for the United Kingdom participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The operation was part of an international coalition aimed at enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone in accordance with the United Natio ...

. ''Ocean'' launched repeated Apache gunships strikes from her flight deck and worked alongside the French

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory during an armed conflict. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (which, as a result, ar ...

, which deployed her own

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helico ...

attack helicopters. (a nuclear-powered fleet submarine) fired her

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...

land-attack cruise missiles at Libyan air defence and command and control centres. Analysts believe that in total more than 15 cruise missiles were fired by the submarine during the operations. Cougar 11 composition:

Cougar 12 deployment

Cougar 12 Task Force Group in the Mediterrean Sea MOD 45154450

''Cougar 12'' saw Response Force Task Group deploy six ships and more than 3,000 marines and sailors to the Mediterranean in early October 2012. One of the principle purposes of the deployment was to conduct large-scale amphibious exercises with participating allies. Key exercises included: 'Corsican Lion' with France; 'Albanian Lion' with Albania; a visit to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and exercises with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and the Algerian Armed Forces.Naval force gears up for Cougar 12
gov.uk, 27 September 2012 Commander UK Task Group, Commodore Paddy McAlpine said: "Cougar 12 provides us with a superb opportunity to rekindle our amphibious capability after a prolonged period when our focus has been on operations elsewhere." Exercise 'Corsican Lion' was the main focus of ''Cougar 12'' and was designed to towards developing the maritime and amphibious components of the Anglo-French Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF). The exercise involved the Response Force Task Group working directly alongside the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

's Task Force 473 and the .Royal Marines face French counterparts in Exercise Corsican Lion
gov.uk, 23 October 2012 Head of the RFTG's amphibious operations,

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Martin Smith of

, was quoted saying: "It is an incredibly versatile force and our burgeoning interoperability with the French further proves this. The quality of Royal Marines Commandos and French Marines delivers a highly effective first response capability which is optimised for early entry operations." Cougar 12 composition:

Cougar 13 deployment

US Osprey Aircraft Landing on HMS Illustrious MOD 45156125

Cougar 13 deployed during the early autumn of 2013. In the Mediterranean, Response Force Task Group held exercises with the

Portuguese Marine Corps The Portuguese Marine Corps () is the special operations capable amphibious force of the Portuguese Navy. It has roles similar to the ones of the USMC Reconnaissance Battalions and of the British Royal Marine Commandos. The Corps is specialis ...

and once again conducted exercise 'Albanian Lion' with the Albanian Armed Forces. Anti-surface exercises were also held with the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

and anti-submarine drills with the

Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

. During mid September 2013, Response Force Task Group deployed

for the second phase of the ''Cougar 13'' deployment where it linked up with the Royal Saudi Navy for exercise 'Red Alligator'. While East of Suez, a Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey from landed on ''Illustrious'' in a joint exercise with the

. Likewise, ''Illustrious''s Army Air Corps

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...

and

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...

s dropped in on ''Kearsarge'', carrying a few passengers to get a brief insight into the American LHD. In the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...

, Response Force Task Group conducted anti-submarine drills against . briefly met up with the RFTG for exercise 'Sea Khanjar'. Exercise 'Sea Khanjar' was observed by

Fleet Commander The Fleet Commander is a senior Royal Navy post, responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the Naval Service (United Kingdom), Naval Service. The Vice-Admiral incumbent is requ ...

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Philip Jones,

Commandant General Royal Marines Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General (United Kingdom), General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of Brigadier ( ...

Major General Ed Davis,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Mike Hindmarsh and Commander United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard Marines, Colonel A Al-Tenaji. When

struck the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in November 2013, HMS ''Illustrious'' was ordered to detach from the Response Force Task Group and assist in the disaster relief efforts. The mission was known as Operation Patwin, was already in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

when the tragedy struck and was swiftly able to provide humanitarian aid. Cougar 13 composition:

Cougar 14 deployment

The RFTG departed on ''Cougar 14'' during early September 2014 for a four-month deployment scheduled to conduct exercises and engage with foreign navies in the Mediterranean and East of Suez in the (Persian) Gulf and Indian Ocean. Notable international warships that took the opportunity to rendezvous and participate with ''Cougar 14'' were , and the French ships and . The first phase of ''Cougar 14'' was exercise Albanian Lion 2014, followed by exercise Dragon Hammer 2014, concluding by 17 October 2014. Several ships also broke off to participate in the middle-eastern IMCMEX exercise. Once completed, they regrouped with the ''Cougar 14'' Task Group for further exercises in the region. During December 2014 on the return journey to Britain, ''Bulwark'' and ''Lyme Bay'' conducted exercise Sea Snake, where Royal Marines from 40 Commando and 4 Assault Squadron 'stormed' the beaches of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

during amphibious landings. Cougar 14 composition:

Cougar 15 deployment

''Cougar 15'' took place alongside the larger NATO wide exercise ''Trident Juncture 15''. Trident Juncture is a key exercise for the Royal Navy, as the country will take command of NATO's Very High Readiness Task Force in 2016. ''Trident Juncture 15'' consisted of over 36,000 personnel and 70 warships from several NATO and allied nations. The exercise saw both the COMUKMARFOR Rear Admiral Radkin and COMUKTG Commodore Connell deploy on HMS ''Ocean'' and HMS ''Bulwark'' respectively. ''Bulwark'' deployed with almost 100 extra Royal Marines from across 3 Commando Brigade, and over 100 specialist personnel required to command the Task Group and its activities. One of the first exercises during ''Cougar 15'' was ''Corsica Lion'', where ''Bulwark'', ''Ocean'', MV ''Hartland Point'' and the French Navy's ''Dixmude'' practised rescuing "civilians" off the northern coast of

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. The RFTG also exercised with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. As part of ''Cougar 15'',

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

MV-22 Ospreys flew off ''Ocean'' during Exercise ''Blue Raptor'', transporting Royal Marines from ship to shore. This exercised ended around 24 November 2015. ''Bulwark'' temporarily remained in

along with to provide security for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015. This security arrangement ended with

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

visiting Bulwark and the ship returned to its home port on 7 December 2015. Cougar 15 composition:

Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 16

In September 2016, HMS ''Bulwark'' (as flagship), HMS ''Ocean'', embarked with helicopters from 845 Naval Air Squadron, No. 662 Squadron AAC and No. 27 Squadron RAF, and elements of 3 Commando Brigade HQ Royal Marines, RFA ''Mounts Bay'' and MV ''Eddystone Point'', deployed on the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 2016. After exercising in the Mediterranean, the JEF(M) then sailed to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, whereupon Commander Amphibious Task Group Commodore Andrew Burns shifted his broad pennant from HMS ''Bulwark'' to HMS ''Ocean'' so that he could assume command of the United States Fifth Fleet Task Force 50 until March 2017. JEF (M) 16 composition:

Amphibious Task Group 18 (ATG18) deployment

In April 2018, it was announced that HMS ''Albion'' was being sent to the Far East to conduct UNSCR enforcement operations against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, upon completion of which, the ship headed west to commence her participation in the Amphibious Task Group 18 (ATG18) deployment. With embarked battlestaff from COMLSG and HQ 3 Commando Brigade embarked, she rendezvoused with RFA ''Lyme Bay'', RFA ''Cardigan Bay'', and HMS ''Dragon'', as well as elements from the Royal Navy of Oman, to conduct Exercise Saif Sareea 3 in October and November 2018. ATG18 composition:

BALTIC PROTECTOR 19 deployment

BALTIC PROTECTOR 19 composition:

Baltic Sea deployment 2023

On the 28th of November 2023, it was announced that JEF(M) would deploy to patrol the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

announced that it would participate with two Visby-class corvettes.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime)
(Royal Navy website, last accessed 13 May 20) Naval units and formations of the United Kingdom British military exercises Expeditionary units and formations