Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy ships have been deployed to the Gulf region in each year since 2010.

The Royal Navy has a long-standing maritime presence in the Gulf region, focussed on promoting peace and stability, as well as ensuring the safe flow of global trade. The Gulf region includes the Red Sea, The Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.

The table below provides a breakdown of each time an RN ship entered the Gulf region. This demonstrates a changed Royal Navy operating model. Episodic deployments have been incrementally replaced by permanently deployed vessels and long deployments. For example, a Type 23 frigate has been permanently deployed to the region since 2019. The vessel has two crews, providing a more efficient and higher level of operational availability.

Fluctuations in the data reflect periodic surges when multiple RN units deployed to the region. For example, the Carrier Strike Group deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2021 increased the numbers of vessels in the region.