Eight Merlins deployed to HMS Queen Elizabeth, including six HMA2 antisubmarine warfare helicopters from 820 NAS. One prepares to land as another departs

A 617 Sqn F-35B taxies out, while an anti-submarine warfare Merlin HM2 hovers behind, probably tasked for search and rescue standby

The HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier with some of the CSG vessels.

HMS Queen Elizabeth with all 14 F-35Bs and two Merlins visible. Note the black spots on the landing pads where the F-35B engines have burnt the deck

All four 617 Sqn F-35Bs sit on the deck, with two VMFA-211 flanking them. Five more from the squadron sit opposite

F-35B 169608/CF-07 departs the Queen Elizabeth with the nozzle of its Pratt & Whitney F135 engine pointing downwards, providing the push to get it off the deck

The first five VMFA-211 F-35Bs to arrive at RAF Marham, on the evening of September 3, 2020, taxi to their parking slots

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, was responsible for the 14 F-35Bs while they were operating from the HMS 'Queen Elizabeth', the largest air group of fifth-generation fighters ever put to sea

F-35B fighters arrive on HMS ‘Queen Elizabeth’ to take part in a joint exercise in the North Sea in September 2020
Interoperability and interchangeability are key words for future US-UK carrier operations. A VMFA-211 F-35B sits on the deck, while a 617 Sqn jet prepares to land with its engine already taking the strain