'Ark Royal' leads exercise as Nato shows its muscle

The British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is at the centre of a Nato exercise in the Mediterranean this weekend which will emphasise the military preparedness of the nations threatening to go to war against Iraq.

Yesterday more than 8,000 troops, about 70 ships and 170 aircraft began practising amphibious warfare operations in and around the Italian mainland and Sardinia. Three carrier battle groups, one based on Ark Royal, are taking part in the exercise, codenamed "Destined Glory 2002", which continues until 15 October.

Although Destined Glory takes place annually, this year's exercise is by far the largest in the series. There are twice as many naval vessels and over four times the number of aircraft compared to last year, when the military build-up for the war in Afghanistan forced Nato to curtail the manoeuvres.

Kenneth Payne, head of the European security programme at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the main purpose was to test procedures for a rapid reaction force, which could be deployed to meet a humanitarian crisis. "This is not a dress rehearsal for war in Iraq," he went on. "Any amphibious landing there would be exclusively the province of a US Marines expeditionary force. Britain would be expected to deploy an armoured division, while the contribution of countries such as France and Italy would probably be in the form of ground attack aircraft.

"But this will prove to potential opponents that these forces are in a high state of readiness, and it doesn't hurt to have them assembled so close to the Gulf."

The exercise is the latest in a series of well-publicised manoeuvres which serve to keep up the pressure on Iraq, even though the authorities take care to point out that they have been planned long in advance. Last month Log Viper, the largest exercise in Britain for four years, tested movements of supplies and ammunition, while 1,000 British troops, including hundreds of Royal Marines, joined a desert-fighting rehearsal in California.