When the UK’s new aircraft carrier sets sail on its first operational deployment this year, the Royal Air Force/Royal Navy aircraft on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth will sit alongside a squadron of US Marine Corps jets. An American destroyer USS The Sullivans will join the escort. So configured, this naval strike group offers a useful metaphor for the “special relationship”: Britain as both partner and willing prisoner.
The Brits say the operation underscores an unmatched level of military collaboration. The claim is hard to gainsay. Senior Washington figures confirm that the co-operation established during the second world war is deeply embedded in mutual trust.
For all that, the carrier group illuminates the unevenness of the relationship. The marines are there for a reason. Shortage of cash has forced the UK to cut its order of F-35 jets from the US. The Marine Corps planes fill an otherwise embarrassing gap. Likewise, USS The Sullivans. The Royal Navy lacks sufficient warships to defend the carrier properly and meet commitments elsewhere.