Navy to trial Elon Musk's Starlink for welfare comms aboard HMS Prince of Wales

Awkward timing, certainly, but this will have been in development for months.

The Royal Navy is reportedly to trial Elon Musk's Starlink service to provide the crew of HMS Prince of Wales with television and welfare comms to friends and family during the carrier's forthcoming Far East deployment.

If the trial is successful, it is said that Starlink could be introduced to the rest of the fleet, supposedly 'deepening UK military ties with the US', although it is not clear why a commercial contract for non-operational purposes would deepen military ties.

The Starlink satellite comms system is clearly highly capable, and its use by Ukrainian forces has been very much in the news this week. The proposed services to RN personnel should be very welcome.

But some commentators may feel that in current circumstances, the UK armed forces might consider seeking an alternative to Starlink for any function where (say) a Chinese supplier would not be acceptable.