THAT’S a monster! Over here, the US aircraft carrier that puts ours in shade

BRiStLing with firepower, this gigantic american aircraft carrier makes a striking sight in the Solent. the USS george H W Bush is among the biggest military ships in service. it is as long as three football pitches, or almost as long as the Empire State building is tall.

the huge vessel – in UK waters ahead of a two-week joint exercise with five nato forces – is substantially bigger than the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, the largest warship ever built for the Royal navy.

named after the 41st US president, who succeeded Ronald Reagan, the US ship towers 20 storeys above the waterline. it is also 100ft longer than the UK’s aircraft carrier, at 1,092ft against 918ft, and heavier at 100,000 tons compared with 65,000 tons.

the £4.7billion george H W Bush carries 90 fighter jets and helicopters, up to 40 more than the UK’s aircraft carrier will

take. The US ship, one of America’s ten Nimitz class aircraft carriers, dropped anchor in Stokes Bay near Portsmouth yesterday ahead of an operation in which British sailors will work on board as part of their training for when the first of two Queen Elizabeth Class carriers comes into service.

That ship – the HMS Queen Elizabeth, which has cost British taxpayers £3.1billion – is undergoing sea trials off the Scottish coast. The USS George H W Bush has spent recent months deployed in Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against Islamic State, providing a base for airstrikes against the terror group in Iraq and Syria.

It is taking part in the fortnight-long Exercise Saxon Warrior, which is being held around the coast of Britain and involves 15 warships, submarines, more than 100 aircraft and about 9,000 personnel.

Over the next two weeks, British pilots, engineers and deck handlers will train alongside US servicemen on the US carrier.