HMS Prince of Wales named
The Royal Navy’s second aircraft carrier has been officially named HMS Prince of Wales on 9 September during a ceremony in Rosyth, Scotland.
The naming comes three weeks after the first aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, entered its home port of Portsmouth as part of its maiden sea trials programme.
HMS Prince of Wales is expected to carry out sea trials in 2019 before entering Royal Navy service.
The aircraft carriers will maintain a continuous carrier strike presence for Royal Navy and Air Force operations worldwide.
There are currently 150 Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel undertaking F-35 aircraft training in the US. The UK will have 14 of these jets by the end of 2017, with initial flight trials from the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth planned for 2018.
The Queen Elizabeth class carriers are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, an alliancing relationship between BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales, and the UK Ministry of Defence.
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