MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British Armed Forces Show of Strength.Biggest Armada since Falklands sails for Oman.

The biggest naval task force since the Falklands War has set sail from Portsmouth to demonstrate Britain's continuing capability to mount a huge military campaign of this kind, deploying a formidable armada of warships, strike aircraft , thousands of troops, and a vast array of weaponry.

The operation, code-named Saif Sareea (Arabic for "Swift Sword"), reaches its climax in the Gulf state of Oman, in mid-October with an amphibious landing. It is the second such exercise in Oman, the first of which took place only four years after the 1982 Falklands Conflict with participation then by some fo the commanders, men, ships and regiments which fought in the Falklands.

This time the 26- vessel fleet is led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, which took over front-line defence of the Falklands immediately after the 1982 conflict from her sister ship HMS Invincible and the rest of the Task Force as it returned to the United Kingdom. Several other veteran vessels of the Falklands War are also taking part this time, including the assault ship, HMS Fearless, several fleet auxiliaries and the successors of RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram, set ablaze near Bluff Cove. Other warships include destroyers, frigates, nuclear and other submarines, and mine hunters.

More than 24,000 British troops are taking part, a quarter of the whole British Army, as well as the Royal Marine units which spearheaded the Falklands campaign, 3 and 40 Commando. Several thousand more Royal Navy personnel are aboard the 26 ships.

Aircraft types which played a major part in the Falklands victory are again flying over Oman -- including 15 Harrier jump jets, 35 helicopters -- Sea Kings, Lynx, Gazelles and Chinooks -- and the Hercules. There will also be 400 armoured vehicles and tanks.

The whole exercise is master-minded from the armed forces permanent headquarters at Northwood, near London, from where every major British deployment of the last 30 years, including the Falklands and the Gulf War, have been directed. This is also the headquarters of the Commander in Chief Fleet, Vice Admiral Sir Alan West, awarded a Distinguished Service Cross as commander of the frigate HMS Ardent in the Falklands Campaign.

The exercise, costing 93-million pounds -- about 130 million dollars -- is the culmination of three years' planning, designed to demonstrate Britain's rapid reaction capability developed to make the forces more deployable and flexible.

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