LONDON: Britain's new flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at its home port in southern England on Wednesday to great fanfare as tens of thousands jammed the harbour in welcome.
Sailors lined the flight deck as the 3 billion-pound ($3.87 billion) aircraft carrier arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base. The 919-foot (280-meter) vessel has been training at sea since June after setting out from Rosyth dockyard in Scotland.
Two flybys of Royal Navy helicopters added to the pageantry. A band of Royal Marines entertained the crowds, and the families of service members lined the jetty to cheer.
"She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said. "The thousands of people across the U.K. who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth."
Fallon said in June that Russia would look at the new carrier with envy, pointing at Russia's "dilapidated" Admiral Kuznetsov carrier. Russia's defence ministry spokesman fired back, dismissing the British carrier as just a "conveniently large sea target" that should stay close to U.S. protection assets.
The carrier is the largest ever for the Royal Navy, and is built specifically for the F-35, the much heralded next generation fighter jet. The military has estimated that by 2023, it will have 24 jets on board.