ROYAL NAVY

HMS Queen Elizabeth has embarked on a landmark voyage to the United States 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 been hailed as a “true statement of our national power” and has left Portsmouth to begin trials.

Two American supersonic F-35B test jets will perform around 500 landings and take-offs during the carriers 11 weeks at sea.

Trials of the fighter aircraft have been much anticipated owing to their “game changing” ultra-advanced technology, which includes their ability to fly at 1,200 miles per hour and go virtually undetected by enemies.

A Royal Navy commander on board the carrier said the voyage to the east coast of America follows increased activity in the North Atlantic by the Russian fleet.

The commander said: “The increase in Russian activity we have seen in the last couple of years is frightening and for national security reasons it just underlies why we need to maintain a balanced strong and capable fleet. It’s quite eye-watering what we’ve seen in recent years.”