CONFIDENTIAL
3RD DRAFT
6.
ROYAL NAVY GENERAL PURPOSE COMBAT FORCES
The NATO Alliance must continue to face the formidable and
increasing threat posed by the maritime forces of the Warsaw Pact.
All major ships and the amphibious forces of the Royal Navy are
earmarked for assignment to NATO. The great majority operates in
the NATO area in peacetime but our maritime forces deploy world-
wide as allied or national interests require.
The NATO Area
7. In the key NATO areas of the Eastern Atlantic and Channel
Commands, Britain provides the major part of the Alliance's readily
available maritime forces, A destroyer or helicopter-carrying
frigate is allocated full time as the United Kingdom's contribution
to the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic and one mine counter-
measures vessel is allocated full time to NATO's Standing Naval
Force Channel. Throughout the last year, the Royal Navy has
operationally deployed in these areas an average of forty ships
of destroyer and frigate size or above, twenty submarines and fifty
smaller ships, supported by Royal Fleet Auxiliaries.
8. A guided-missile destroyer and two frigates, which are earmarked
for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), are currently
One of the frigates is
stationed in the Mediterranean area.
Other destroyers, frigates,
deployed in the vicinity of Gibraltar.
submarines and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries have been deployed periodi-
cally to the Mediterranean.
The Royal Navy contributes to the
NATO Naval On Call Force Mediterranean and a Royal Marines Commando
Group is deployed in Malta (although the majority of the Group is
serving with UN forces in Cyprus until April 1975). These elements are
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CONFIDENTIAL