Royal Navy warship opens fire off Falkland Islands as row with Argentina ramps up

Royal Navy warship opens fire off Falkland Islands as row with Argentina ramps up HMS Medway, a Royal Navy warship, fired 120 live rounds off the coast of the Falkland Islands in a military exercise amid rising tensions with Argentina A Royal Navy warship has fired 120 live rounds off the coast of the Falkland Islands as part of a military exercise. HMS Medway, a River-class patrol vessel, is permanently based in the South Atlantic and has been deployed to protect the British islands, which Argentina claims belong to it. A salvo of 120 live rounds was fired from its 30mm automatic small calibre gun during the military exercise designed to put the crew of the HMS Medway through their paces and check the ship is ready for operations. Sharing a photo of the front of the ship and looking out to see, the HMS Medway wrote on X: "120 rounds downrange. With @FOST embarked, we took the opportunity for further routine training and put our 30mm Automatic Small Calibre Gun through its paces again. Practice = Precision." The Royal Navy website says of the Medway: "She provides support to Britain’s overseas territories in the region, acting as a reassuring presence, providing support and humanitarian aid , and working side-by-side with regional law enforcement, helping to stop the flow of illegal drugs from South America to Europe and North America." The ship also carried out live machine gun firing at the end July during a patrol called Operation Southern Vigilance, when the crew practised rescuing a man overboard alongside an RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft It demonstrated the UK's commitment to the Falkland Islands by maintaining a visible presence and a capable force, helping to deter potential adversaries, said the British Forces South Atlantic Islands. The row with Argentina over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands has escalated in recent months, with President Javier Milei claiming it is a "national cause". And Argentina’s dispute with the UK over oil exploration near the Falkland Islands is headed for a tribunal hearing, with dates set for the two-day proceedings. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) confirmed it would hold a public hearing on November 10 and 11 to assess Argentina’s complaint about the Sea Lion development, north of the islands. Milei followed through on his September promise to file a complaint with the maritime tribunal. Established under a UN convention, the Hamburg-based tribunal can issue legally binding rulings on maritime disputes. The Sea Lion development is a joint venture in the South Atlantic Ocean between British and Israeli companies and contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. Milei previously described the companies’ activities as unlawful and launched economic sanctions on people and firms involved in oil exploration around the islands. But Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the UK “will stand firm in the face of any threats” to the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. He told the UN: “I didn’t react immediately when the Argentinian president made his recent comments, but in this forum, I think it’s right for me to set out the position clearly, and the clear position is: we will stand firm in the face of any threats. We will defend the right of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination and to remain British.” The Falkland Islands have long been a source of diplomatic tension between the two countries, which fought a war for sovereignty in 1982 after Argentina invaded the British territory. Falkland Islanders previously voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory, but Milei dismissed their wishes in his speech to the UN. He argued that the principle of self-determination did not apply “since the population was implanted by the occupying power on a territory whose sovereignty is in dispute”.