May 3 (UPI) — The carrier strike group led by the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth set off for a two-week exercise in preparation for a 28-week deployment.
The exercise, known as Exercise Strike Warrior, will include over 20 warships and three submarines, as well as 150 aircraft. Eleven NATO and allied nations will be involved, the Royal Navy said on Saturday in a statement.
The aircraft carrier, with four British warships as escorts, will engage in simulated battle with “warships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 in waters off north-west Scotland to prove it is capable of undertaking high intensity operations against the most demanding adversaries,” the Royal Navy statement said.
Aircraft handlers qualified @RNASCuldrose on Wednesday and yesterday helped F-35 jets from @OC617Sqn join @HMSQNLZ ready for her 1st deployment.
6 of 20 sailors to pass out from the RN School of Flight Deck Ops joined the carrier to marshal her aircraft.https://t.co/YDmvRke2GZ pic.twitter.com/p9VvNOUWYX
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) May 3, 2021
British assets involved will include the ships HMS Defender, HMS Diamond, HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, as well as a squadron of helicopters.
The exercise is the final test of the UK Carrier Strike Group before it embarks on a global deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and to the Indian and Asia-Pacific regions.
Warships from several NATO countries will join the tour, including the United States, whose guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans will be a part of the carrier strike group.
The USS Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group reached its initial operating capability, essentially its formal certification for involvement in the Royal Navy, in January.
In October 2020, F-35B fighter planes of the U.S. Marines began practicing takeoffs and landings aboard the aircraft carrier.
The busy day in Portsmouth Harbour saw @HMSDefender, @hmsdiamond and @hms_kent sail while @815NAS left @RNASYeovilton to join the task group. Fair winds and fellowing seas to all our men and women pic.twitter.com/0KkfWhfrAJ
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) May 1, 2021
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