The United Kingdom's newest aircraft carrier arrived in Halifax on Thursday.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is a 65-thousand-tonne warship -- the biggest ever built for the Royal Navy.
It is 280 metres long and can travel at a speed of 25 knots. It can accommodate 40 aircraft, including the F35B Lightning fighter jets. It is the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers.
Construction began in 2009 and the ship began sea trials in June 2017. It was commissioned in December 2017. It is scheduled to enter service in 2020 and will be based at HMNB Portsmouth. Its propulstion system is powered by gas turbines and diesel generators.
The ship will anchor south of George's Island and will be joined by vessels that are part of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group.
The aircraft carrier's deployment to Canada's east coast is part of a mission that will take it to the U.S. East Coast, where the crew will test the ship's F-35 Lightning 2 jet fighters.
