HMS Prince of Wales: Royal Navy to trial Elon Musk's Starlink internet on flagship aircraft carrier on its deployment this spring - where will carrier be going?

If the trial is deemed successful, then Starlink could be rolled out across the rest of the fleet, navy sources told the Times. Sailors aboard HMS Prince of Wales will be able to use the high-speed network to watch television and contact loved ones during a nine-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific this spring.

Starlink works via a constellation of an estimated 7,000 satellites in low Earth orbit and is relied on by Ukrainian forces to co-ordinate artillery strikes and provide encrypted communication between commanders and troops. HMS Prince of Wales, the largest warship in the Royal Navy, currently uses a network of military communication operated by Airbus’s Skynet.

The Ministry of Defence will reportedly be in talks over the coming months to decide whether to retain Airbus or give the next contract to the firm Lockheed Martin, an American defence and aerospace manufacturer. Mr Musk, the billionaire businessman, launched Starlink in 2021 after several years of prototypes and tests.

Over the weekend, he claimed that if he turned off Starlink, the “entire front line” in Ukraine would collapse. Approximately 42,000 terminals are being used by the military, hospitals, businesses and aid organisations.

His comments triggered a bitter riposte from Poland’s government. Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s minister of foreign affairs, wrote on the social media platform X: “Starlink for Ukraine is paid for by the Polish digitization ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.

“The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be forced to look for other suppliers.” Mr Musk, 53, replied: “Be quiet, small man.”

An MoD spokesman said: “This procurement for future satellite communications remains ongoing and any contract would only be awarded on the basis of having a secure, sovereign capability. The Skynet Enduring Capability Wideband Satellite System remains an ongoing competition and we are unable to comment further due to commercial sensitivities.”

Where will HMS Prince of Wales be going?

The carrier will leave Portsmouth this Spring and travel to the Indo-Pacific region in the far east of the globe. Traversing the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal to get there, Royal Navy sailors will be joined by RAF pilots in charge of F-35 fighter jets, as well as Royal Marines personnel.

Hundreds of armed forces personnel will be involved in the operation. The carrier will sail alongside Japan, Australia, India and other nations while on the deployment. Britain's relationship with Canberra is solidified through the AUKUS military partnership between the two nations and the United States. Several international partners such as Norway will also be joining British sailors on the deployment.