Aircraft
Britain’s New Aircraft Carrier Starts Sea Trials
HMS Queen Elizabeth can carry up to 36 F-35B stealth fighters or 43 helicopters.
HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea for the first time. Note the ski-jump, and the unusual twin-island design. (Photo: UK MoD Crown Copyright 2017)
HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea for the first time. Note the ski-jump, and the unusual twin-island design. (Photo: UK MoD Crown Copyright 2017)

The first of the UK’s two new aircraft carriers has gone to sea for the first time. HMS Queen Elizabeth left Rosyth dockyard near Edinburgh on June 26 for trials off the coast of Scotland, some months later than planned. The 65,000-tonne QE II-class carriers remain controversial in the UK, because of their large acquisition cost and manpower requirements. They are being constructed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), a partnership among BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the UK Ministry of Defence.


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