New Delhi: British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith announced that UK's aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will operate in the Indian Ocean region on its maiden voyage.
"UK's aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will operate in the Indian Ocean region on its maiden voyage. (Another warship) HMS Defender for Royal Navy visited Goa this week. 2021 version of our bilateral naval exercise could be the most complex and sophisticated so far," the envoy said.
With an aim to strengthen India-UK maritime cooperation, the UK will place a liaison officer in the Indian Navy's Information Fusion Centre in Gurugram in Haryana.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The warship is capable of carrying upto 40 aircraft.
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The UK is also eyeing the 2021 bilateral naval exercise with India in Konkan, saying it could be so far, the "most complex and sophisticated".
Konkan is a long-running exercise designed to test the ability of the two Commonwealth navies to operate side-by-side during the war and other crunch scenarios.
"A UK liaison officer to be placed in Indian Navy's Information Fusion Centre in Gurugram," he added.
The flight deck of the warship comes in at an enormous four acres and will be used to launch the fearsome new F35 Joint Strike Fighter fast jet. Four fighter jets can be moved from the hangar to the flight deck in just one minute.
The ship's two propellers weigh 33 tonnes each. The powerplant behind them generates enough power to run 1000 family cars.
