The Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has returned to base after two Russian bombers headed straight towards it while it was part of exercises in the North Sea.
Hundreds of families and well-wishers lined the harbour walls to welcome home the 65,000-tonne warship as it sailed into Portsmouth Naval Base.
Earlier on Thursday, the 65,000-tonne ship was on a training exercise off the coast of Scotland as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group when two Tupulev 160 bombers were detected flying towards it.
An RAF spokesperson said the bombers, known as Blackjacks and which are built to carry nuclear weapons, were not responding to air traffic control or broadcasting their location – something which is said to be common with Russian military jets.
The Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has returned to base after two Russian bombers headed straight towards it while it was part of exercises in the North Sea
Earlier on Thursday, the 65,000-tonne ship was on a training exercise off the coast of Scotland as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group when two Tupulev 160 bombers were detected flying towards it
A source told the Sun that the bombers, which flew towards the Shetland Islands before looping back up along the west coast of Norway, were a ‘hazard to other aviation’.
Speaking about the incident, which happened on Tuesday, an RAF spokesperson told the paper: ‘Typhoon fighters based at RAF Lossiemouth were scrambled against unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest.’
‘We intercepted and escorted two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack long range strategic bomber aircraft.’
The RAF jets were supported by an air-to-air refueling vessel from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
During its sailing, the £3 billion warship was at the centre of the strike group which was made up of nine ships, 15 fighter jets, 11 helicopters and 3,000 personnel from the UK, US and the Netherlands.
The Royal Navy described the gathering as ‘the largest and most powerful European-led maritime force in almost 20 years’.
Hundreds of families and well-wishers lined the harbour walls to welcome home the 65,000-tonne warship as it sailed into Portsmouth Naval Base
During its sailing, the £3 billion warship was at the centre of the strike group which was made up of nine ships, 15 fighter jets, 11 helicopters and 3,000 personnel from the UK, US and the Netherlands
It included taking on board both UK and US F35B Lightning jets for the first time.
The ship’s departure from Portsmouth for the exercises was delayed after a small number of crew tested positive for Covid-19, and because of changing weather forecasts.
The Queen Elizabeth is expected to depart for its maiden operational deployment next year.
The carrier strike group included destroyers – the Royal Navy’s Type 45s HMS Diamond and HMS Defender and US Navy Arleigh Burke-class USS The Sullivans – as well as frigates HMS Northumberland and HMS Kent from the UK, and the Dutch Navy’s HNLMS Evertsen.
They are tasked with protecting the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers from enemy ships, submarines, aircraft and missiles, as well as carrying out a range of support missions, from maritime security to disaster relief.
Two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships – RFA Tideforce and RFA Fort Victoria – were also involved to supply fuel, food, spares and ammunition, to enable sustained operations at sea.
The two Tupulev 160 bombers (library image) were said to be flying towards UK sovereign waters, in the direction of the £3billion aircraft carrier, which at the time was off the Scottish coast
Earlier this month, the 930ft long aircraft carrier was seen leading a flotilla of destroyers and frigates from the UK, US and the Netherlands, together with two Royal Fleet Auxiliaries.
In total, 3,000 personnel from the UK, US and Netherlands were said to be involved.
At the time, HMS Queen Elizabeth was taking part in the NATO exercise, Joint Warrior, as part of the UK’s new Carrier Strike Group
HMS Queen Elizabeth embarked two squadrons of F-35B stealth jets, the UK’s 617 Squadron and US Marine Corps fighter attack squadron 211.
Alongside eight Merlin helicopters of 820 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons, it is the largest air group to operate from a Royal Navy carrier in more than thirty years, and the largest air group of fifth generation fighters at sea anywhere in the world, say the Royal Navy.
The task force is the largest assembled by a European Navy in almost 20 years.