In the 1960s most of the Navy's amphibious capability was under
Commodore, Amphibious Forces, Far East Fleet (COMAFFEF), based at
Singapore Naval Base. In March 1971, following the withdrawal from
Singapore, and the return of
3 Commando Brigade to the UK, COMAFFEF was retitled Commodore Amphibious Warfare (COMAW), and moved to
Fort Southwick, just outside
Portsmouth. COMAW became subordinate to
Flag Officer, Carriers and Amphibious Ships (FOCAF). After 1979 when FOCAF became
Flag Officer, Third Flotilla, COMAW became part of Third Flotilla. In 1981, Commodore
Michael Clapp moved COMAW to
Stonehouse Barracks in order to be based alongside HQ
3 Commando Brigade again. Following the pivotal role of the Royal Navy's amphibious forces during the
Falklands War, when Clapp directed the Amphibious Group of the British task force, alongside Brigadier
Julian Thompson, this co-location of the two Headquarters has endured ever since. From 1992 COMAW reported to the
two-star deployable battle staff commander, currently titled
Commander UK Strike Force. The reestablishment of the Amphibious Warfare Warfare Squadron was announced in March 1997. But the commander's title was renamed from COMAW to Commander Amphibious Task Group (COMATG) on 1 December 1997; subsequent references to a 'squadron' are hard to find. In the early 21st century COMATG deployments included
Operation Veritas in 2001;
Operation Telic, the
2003 invasion of Iraq;
Operation Vela in 2006;
Operation Highbrow, evacuating personnel from Lebanon in 2006; leading
Combined Task Force 152 in the Middle East in 2008; and Operation Taurus in 2009. Until 2011, COMATG was one of the deployable maritime commanders who with their headquarters reported to the Fleet Battle Staff, alongside two others, the
Commander United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group (COMCSG) and the
Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG). However, following the
Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010, COMCSG and COMUKTG were abolished as separate commands and COMATG became the sole deployable HQ, under the new title of COMUKTG, responsible for command of the
Response Force Task Group. At this point, the former
Commander UK Task Group became
Deputy Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces. In early October 2012, the Commander UK Task Group,
Commodore Paddy McAlpine led the
Cougar 12 deployment of six ships and more than 3,000 marines and sailors to the Mediterranean Sea. One of the principle purposes of the deployment was to conduct large-scale amphibious exercises with allies. Key exercises included: 'Corsican Lion' with France; 'Albanian Lion' with Albania; a visit to
Malta and exercises with the
United States Navy and the
Algerian Armed Forces. McAlpine said: "Cougar 12 provides us with a superb opportunity to rekindle our amphibious capability after a prolonged period when our focus has been ..elsewhere."
Brigadier Martin Smith of
3 Commando Brigade was quoted saying: "It is an incredibly versatile force and our burgeoning interoperability with the French further proves this. The quality of Royal Marines Commandos and French Marines delivers a highly effective first response capability ..optimised for early entry operations." COMATG was responsible to
Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces. COMATG was re-titled Commander Littoral Strike Group on 1 October 2019, to reflect the expected increased size and capabilities of the group, including
Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. ==Deployments and operations==