At last! Jets to land on a UK carrier again
HMS Queen Elizabeth will embark on a landmark voyage to the United States tonight to begin flight trials of new stealth fighter jets.
After the retirement of the Harrier aircraft, it is the first time in eight years that our jets will take off and land on a UK aircraft carrier. At 65,000 tons and costing £3billion, HMS Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s biggest warship, which has ben hailed as a ‘true statement of our national power’ and will leave Portsmouth Naval Base at 6pm this evening.
Two American supersonic F-35B test jets will perform 500 landings and takeoffs during the carrier’s 11 weeks at sea.
Trials of the fighter aircraft have been much anticipated owing to their ‘gamechanging’ ultra-advanced technology, which includes their ability to fly at 1,200 miles per hour and go virtually undetected by enemies.
Captain Jerry Kyd, the Royal Navy carrier’s commanding officer, last night said the voyage to the east coast of America follows increased activity in the North Atlantic by the Russian fleet.
He said: ‘The increase in Russian activity we have seen in the last couple of years is frightening and for national security reasons it just underlines why we need to maintain a balanced strong and capable fleet. It’s quite eye-watering what we’ve seen in recent years.’