US and UK set final seal on Carrier Strike Group deployment
UK aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth to embark with USMC aircraft on board.
The US and UK governments signed a joint declaration on 19 January to confirm that the RN carrier Queen Elizabeth will lead the inaugural operational deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group in 2021.
This came two weeks after the UK government announced the IOC for the strike group.
USN and USMC materiel and personnel will be embarked with the strike group. The deployment will include ten USMC F-35B aircraft aboard Queen Elizabeth and USS The Sullivans (an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer) will serve in the escort detachment.
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