HMS Queen Elizabeth: Watch Royal Navy carrier test new Phalanx CIWS rapid-fire guns during latest round of sea trials

HMS Queen Elizabeth is continuing her sea trials ahead of a second trip to America.

By Matthew Mohan-Hickson

Published 8th Jul 2019, 11:31 BST

Updated 9th Jul 2019, 11:30 BST

HMS Queen Elizabeth as she sailed out of Portsmouth. Picture: Ben Mitchell/PA Wire

The Royal Navy’s future fleet flagship left Portsmouth last month and has been sailing along the south coast, stopping in Devon at the end of June.

As part of her latest sea trials, HMS Queen Elizabeth has been testing her new Phalanx closed-in weapons system (CIWS) which was installed in February.

The 65,000 tonne warships official Twitter account shared a video of the tests, saying: ‘Having a #SundayFunday? We are having a #SundayGunday.

‘Today we successfully completed live firing runs, engaging both air and surface targets, with both our Phalanx CIWS. #capabilityincreased.’

The Phalanx CIWS are ‘rapid-fire radar and electro-optical guided guns’ and have the nick-name R2-D2 due to their resemblance to the Star Wars character of the same name.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is set to return to the east coast of America for WESTLANT19 in the coming weeks.