A US Marine Corps Osprey has landed on the flight deck of HMS Ocean for the first time in over five years.
The landing was the first step in demonstrating the partnership between the amphibious helicopter platform and the US Marines Corps (USMC) ahead of the major NATO exercise, Trident Juncture, which gets underway in a few weeks time.
The USMC MV22 Osprey, callsign ‘Elvis’, visited HMS Ocean in the Atlantic off Portugal at the start of the Royal Navy’s annual Cougar deployment of the UK’s high readiness maritime joint expeditionary force – with Trident Juncture 15 one element of the deployment.
The Osprey landing was a preliminary visit before the USMC train alongside the Royal Navy in Exercise Trident Juncture.
Major Ian Moore from Royal Marines, Air Operations Officer and lead planner for the Osprey embarkation said:
The MV22 landing on Ocean’s flight deck for the first time in five years represents the culmination of many months of work on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Image: Royal Navy