Royal Marines' new helicopter lands on Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time

The specialist Commando Wildcat helicopter has landed on the super-sized aircraft carrier, which set sail from Portsmouth earlier today.

The nimble chopper is the ‘flying eyes’ of the navy’s Royal Marines and can perform everything from reconnaissance missions, to close air support and casualty evacuation.

But as the Commandos are the navy’s elite amphibious force, the helicopter needs to be equally at home operating at sea and on land – something its army version cannot do.

Pilots from Yeovilton-based 847 Naval Air Squadron joined 65,000-tonne supercarrier Queen Elizabeth as the ship’s crew tackled their next phase of training.

Helicopter teams carried out a number of sorties from the warship, including 24 safe landings by day and night.

Landing on the carrier’s three-acre flight deck can be a challenge – although not as tricky as touching down on a frigate or destroyer.

Petty Officer Aircrewman Arron Tobin said: ‘The massive flight deck of the Queen Elizabeth gives us lots of space to manoeuvre the aircraft. But it can also get very busy with lots of activity and so proves excellent training.

‘We have made considerable gains in our knowledge and experience of operating at sea and it has been great to see everyone, engineers and aircrew alike, working together to achieve the qualification.’

Qualified helicopter instructor Lieutenant Commander David Westley added: ‘It was hugely rewarding to be part of the first Commando Wildcat crew to conduct night vision deck landings on the Queen Elizabeth class.’

Queen Elizabeth left the Solent today after spending a week at anchor off Stokes Bay.

The £3.1bn ship will be conducting a series of wargames and exercises, including firefighting drills and simulated missions while at sea.

The aircraft carrier will sail for her first operational deployment next year, which will take her to the Mediterranean, Gulf and the Far East.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.