HMS Queen Elizabeth welcomes UK and US jets for major exercise
The Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth has embarked the largest number of fighter aircraft onto her deck as she prepares to take her place at the heart of a UK-led NATO Carrier Strike Group.
Two squadrons of F-35B stealth jets, the RAF’s 617 Squadron (The Dambusters) and the US Marines Corps VMFA-211 (The Wake Island Avengers), have joined the 65,000-tonne carrier as she sails for exercises with allies in the North Sea.
A 23 September Royal Navy statement said that with a total of 14 fighter aircraft and eight Merlin helicopters, it’s the largest concentration of fighter jets to operate at sea from a Royal Navy carrier since HMS Hermes in 1983, and the ‘largest air group of fifth generation fighters at sea anywhere in the world’.
In this month’s group exercise, HMS Queen Elizabeth will be joined by seven Royal Navy destroyers, frigates and auxiliaries, plus other supporting units, to form a fully sovereign Carrier Strike Group.
Commodore Steve Moorhouse, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, said the group would be put through its paces off the north east coast of Scotland as part of Joint Warrior, NATO’s largest annual exercise.
‘The United Kingdom’s maritime renaissance has been unfolding over many years, as we introduced a new generation of ships, submarines and aircraft into service. But this marks the first time we have brought them together in a cohesive, potent, fighting force,’ Moorhouse said.
Usually based in Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, in Arizona, VMFA-211 arrived in the UK just under two weeks ago. Landing at the home of the Lightning Force, RAF Marham after the trans-Atlantic flight, they worked up with 617 Squadron conducting the RAF led Exercise Point Blank before embarking in the carrier.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![Rolls-Royce seals £9 billion deal with UK government on submarine support]()
Rolls-Royce seals £9 billion deal with UK government on submarine support
The deal will boost the government’s ‘Plan for Change’ and deliver on its nuclear triple-lock commitment.
-
![Chinese Navy commissions first Type 054B frigate]()
Chinese Navy commissions first Type 054B frigate
The commissioning comes just two years after the modules for the hull were first seen – and the US is watching.
-
![Russian spy ship Yantar monitored in English Channel]()
Russian spy ship Yantar monitored in English Channel
The vessel returned just months after loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure.
-
![US shipbuilding struggles to keep pace with China]()
US shipbuilding struggles to keep pace with China
The small production capacity of US shipyards has generated multiple delays in US Navy programmes.
-
![Hanwha gains cybersecurity Type Approval from ABS]()
Hanwha gains cybersecurity Type Approval from ABS
The company is the first based in Asia to achieve certification from the American Bureau of Shipping.
