US Carrier Staff Tour HMS Queen Elizabeth

US Carrier Staff Tour HMS Queen Elizabeth

 

A delegation of senior officers of the US Navy and US Marine Corps visited the Royal Navy’s future giant of the seas, HMS Queen Elizabeth under construction at Rosyth.

 

 The team was led by Vice Admiral Nora Tyson – the first woman to command a US Navy aircraft carrier task group, Vice Admiral David Buss of the US Naval Air Forces, and Lieutenant General Robert Schmidle – the US Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation.

After a meeting between representatives of Navy Command Carrier Strike team, the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, and the ship’s company, the delegation toured the ship.

The two nations have been sharing experiences and knowledge on aircraft carrier operations over the last few years.

The US and UK Defence Ministers signed the US-UK Statement of Intent in January last year to enhance the cooperation in terms of carrier strike interoperability. The aim is for US aircraft to be able to operate from UK aircraft carriers and vice versa.

Having completed the tour of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the US delegation met with the UK Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Francois on Thursday to discuss further the opportunities for UK-US carrier strike integration.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to arrive in Portsmouth by 2017. Her hull is now complete, the radar has been lifted into place and only the aircraft lifts remain outstanding to finish the outer construction.

[mappress]
Naval Today Staff, January 24, 2014; Image: UK Navy