Royal Navy: HMS Queen Elizabeth repairs and upgrades completed with carrier set to leave Rosyth soon - when

All the mechanical issues which have plagued HMS Queen Elizabeth have now been fixed, with upgrades also being made to the aircraft carrier. Temporary flight restrictions will be put in place over the Firth of Forth between July 19 and 24, at the request of Police Scotland.

A Royal Navy spokesperson told the UK Defence Journal: “HMS Queen Elizabeth has completed her defect repair work and capability upgrades at Rosyth and will now undergo a period of sea trials to prepare for future tasking.”

The flight restrictions over the Rosyth area of Fife, Scotland, apply to unmanned craft. Measures were approved by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Secretary of State for Transport “due to the high-profile status of this event” - being deemed necessary for national defence and security. The 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier could leave between 7am tomorrow and 1pm on July 24, which is when the limits will be in place.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to take charge of a UK Carrier Strike Group during Exercise Steadfast Defender - Nato’s largest operation since The Cold War - earlier this year. Those plans were shelved after a fault was found during pre-sailing checks on February 4. She has been at the dock where she was built since March to fix the problems. The fault was deemed to be an issue with the aircraft carrier’s starboard propeller, with a coupling being misaligned.

The Royal Navy previously said the fault was caused by “wear and tear”, with the Earl of Minto adding that repairs would be carried out and an investigation into the malfunction would be carried out. Propeller shaft couplings have plastic covers to keep water away, with the cover on the starboard shaft moving, which allowed seawater to cause corrosion. It was reported that a decision was made to replace both propeller shafts, in a similar way to HMS Prince of Wales following her breakdown in 2022.