65,000-tonne UK warship expected to visit Darwin

The United Kingdom’s largest Royal Navy warship is expected to visit Darwin after it sets sail on deployment to Asia next month, according to Defence NT.

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The United Kingdom’s largest Royal Navy warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is expected to visit Darwin after it sets sail on deployment to Asia next month, according to Defence NT.

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will travel to the Indo-Pacific region in May, leading the largest naval and air task force to leave the UK in a generation.

The fleet will include eight fast jets, six Royal Navy ships, a submarine and 14 naval helicopters.

The UK government said HMS Queen Elizabeth will carry out exercises with forces from Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, the UAE, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel, India, Oman and South Korea.

The deployment is expected to last about six months and visit more than 40 countries.

Guy Boekenstein, who is senior director of defence and national security at Defence NT, said the HMS Queen Elizabeth was also expected to visit Darwin.

“Great news and Darwin looks forward to welcoming the HMS Queen Elizabeth and other elements of the task force during the deployment,” he said in a post on LinkedIn.

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Originally published as 65,000-tonne UK warship expected to visit Darwin