HMS Queen Elizabeth sails for jet trials
HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed for flight trials with UK F-35 Lightning jets in UK waters.
The joint Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Lightning Force Training squadron, 207 Squadron, will conduct the trials, flying aircraft to and from the decks, day and night from their base at RAF Marham.
Six pilots, both navy and air force, will carry out their aircraft carrier qualification during the trials.
The trials will give crew practise in landing on the 4.5-acre deck in a range of conditions, as well as testing the ship’s crew and systems in operating with the jets that the ship, and her sister, HMS Prince of Wales, were specifically built to fly.
Lieutenant Commander Richard Turrell, Flight Deck Officer on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to further integrate and qualify United Kingdom F-35 pilots, ground crews and aircraft on board HMS Queen Elizabeth in UK waters.
‘My team are excited to get to sea and continue the development of our ship to air wing partnership throughout 2020 and beyond to deploying with full carrier strike capability in 2021.’
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![Canada begins work on heavy polar icebreaker to protect its high-Arctic sovereignty]()
Canada begins work on heavy polar icebreaker to protect its high-Arctic sovereignty
The vessel, made under the auspices of the country’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, will be the first heavy icebreaker built in Canada for over six decades.
-
![Fincantieri begins steel-cutting on FREMM EVO frigates for the Italian Navy]()
Fincantieri begins steel-cutting on FREMM EVO frigates for the Italian Navy
The two new frigates are expected to enter service by 2030.
-
![BAE Systems to provide missile tubes to Block VI Virginia-class submarines]()
BAE Systems to provide missile tubes to Block VI Virginia-class submarines
The construction of the Block V submarines is still ongoing, with none of the ten boats yet commissioned.
-
![Desan Shipyard to build Malaysia’s largest ever coast guard vessel]()
Desan Shipyard to build Malaysia’s largest ever coast guard vessel
The vessel should join the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in 2017.
-
![US Navy tests Aegis combat system for hypersonic missile defence]()
US Navy tests Aegis combat system for hypersonic missile defence
The Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Pinckney undertook the tests against a simulated SM-6 missile.
-
![Royal Navy destroyer completes UAV live-fire exercise before heading to the Indo-Pacific]()
Royal Navy destroyer completes UAV live-fire exercise before heading to the Indo-Pacific
HMS Dauntless ran a full UAV test to mimic potential real-world threats.
