Britain’s Carrier Strike Group’s F-35 stealth jets have carried out their first counter-Islamic State combat missions from HMS Queen Elizabeth, the British Ministry of Defense said.
The attackers flew alongside elements provided by U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron, VMFA 211, with the combat mission being the first flown by U.S. aircraft from a foreign carrier since HMS Victorious in the South Pacific in 1943.
Warplanes of the renowned 617 Squadron RAF (The Dambusters) carried out their operational sorties for the first time in support of Operation Shader and U.S. Operation Inherent Resolve.
It marked the first combat strikes for UK carrier-borne aircraft since missions over Libya in 2011 during a NATO-led intervention into that country’s civil war.
A crew member makes a signal to F-35 aircraft for take off on the U.K.’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea. The British Royal Navy commanders say the U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is helping to take on the “lion’s share” of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq as Russian warplanes get an up-close look at the cutting-edge F-35 jet in a “cat-and-mouse” game with British and U.S. pilots. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
“The ability to operate from the sea with the most advanced fighter jets ever created is a significant moment in our history, offering reassurance to our allies and demonstrating [Britain]’s formidable air power to our adversaries,” Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a press release.
The launch from the HMS Queen Elizabeth also “marks the Royal Navy’s return to maritime strike operations for the first time since the Libya campaign a decade ago,” Carrier Air Wing Commander Captain James Blackmore said in the release.
“With its fifth generation capabilities, including outstanding situational awareness, the F-35B is the ideal aircraft to deliver precision strikes, which is exactly the kind of mission that 617 Squadron has been training for day-after-day, night-after-night, for these past few months,” Blackmore added.
VMFA-211 and Britain’s 617 Squadron both flew F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft during the combat missions, according to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Carrier Strike Group 21, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, is the largest concentration of maritime and air power to leave the UK in a generation and this is its first operational deployment, which is joint between the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
There are 18 UK and U.S. F-35 Lightning jets on board the aircraft carrier, which is the largest number to ever sail.
The aircraft are next generation multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems and stealth technology.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is leading the UK’s Carrier Strike Group 21 on a seven-month, 30,000-mile (48,280 kilometer) mission that will take it as far as Japan and South Korea, including an expected transit of the South China Sea.
U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, June 20, 2021. The British Royal Navy commanders say the warship is helping to take on the “lion’s share” of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
The group is expected to visit 40 countries during its deployment through the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean on the way to the Pacific.
U.S. and Dutch warships are part of the flotilla with elements from the Royal Australian Navy expected to join at a later date.
Sunday’s joint U.S.-UK naval operation came 48-hours before a Russian warship and jet interceptor fired warning shots across the path of Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender in Ukrainian territorial waters, as Breitbart News reported.
UPI contributed to this story