Aircrew from RAF Marham were among the servicemen and women who met the Queen as she toured Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth ahead of its operational deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.

The £3 billion warship, with eight RAF F35 stealth fighter jets from the Norfolk base on board, will depart on Saturday night for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.

The Queen was greeted by the ship's commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), as she arrived by helicopter on board the aircraft carrier at Portsmouth Naval Base.

After a briefing on the forthcoming deployment, the Queen toured a hangar deck where she met sailors, airmen and women, Royal Marines and members of the US Marine Corps who are joining UK personnel on their deployment. Her tour follows a visit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

The 28-week deployment will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

The CSG will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean.

%image(14447661, type="article-full", alt="F35 Lightning jets from RAF Marham-based 617 "Dambusters" Squadron are among the aircraft on board the carrier")

As well as the UK military units involved in the CSG, HMS Queen Elizabeth will also have a squadron of 10 US Marine Corps F35B Lightning II jets embarked and be accompanied by the US destroyer USS The Sullivans and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the deployment "will be flying the flag for Global Britain - projecting our influence, signalling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow".

%image(14448293, type="article-full", alt="Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, ahead of the ship's maiden deployment.")

The deployment has been organised as part of the "UK's tilt to the Indo-Pacific region" in a bid to "bolster deep defence partnerships" as well as to take part in an exercise to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Accompanying HMS Queen Elizabeth will be a surface fleet made up of Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, Type 23 anti-submarine frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring. The Royal Navy Astute-class submarine will also be deployed, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

%image(14448204, type="article-full", alt="Queen Elizabeth II meeting personnel during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base, prtsmouth")

%image(14447663, type="article-full", alt="Captain Angus Essenhigh (left), Commodore Steve Moorhouse (second from left) and Queen Elizabeth II (centre) on the flight deck during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, ahead of the ship's maiden deployment.")

%image(14448294, type="article-full", alt="A pair of F-35 Lightning II jets from RAF Marham on the flight deck during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth")