HMS Queen Elizabeth prepares for maiden mission with digital workout


According to a news published by Royal Navy on February 10, 2021, the carrier’s crew and battle staff are playing out a simulated crisis and how HMS Queen Elizabeth and her task force would respond to it in the real world. The two-week-long Virtual Warrior is one of two final assessments the ship and command staff must come through before the 65,000-tonne warship leads her task force on deployment.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier (Picture source: Royal Navy)


The digital workout picks up where the carrier strike group disbanded last autumn at the end of exercises off Scotland. It will be followed by a live-action assessment during this spring’s Joint Warrior war game, ‘Strike Warrior’, after which the force can head to Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia-Pacific region on its Carrier Strike Group 21 mission.

Making use of an impressive combined computer training suite at HMS Collingwood in Fareham, Virtual Warrior allows various scenarios to be played out testing the ability of the Carrier Strike Group staff to respond to multiple incidents and issues, across a vast area.

At its largest the task group will comprise more than a dozen warships, support vessels and squadrons, including three dozen F-35B jets and helicopters around 3,700 military personnel in all.

But there will be times when some vessels and aircraft break away from the force for specific missions so the team on HMS Queen Elizabeth must be able to direct and advise their actions, as well as the core carrier group.

Virtual Warrior runs until Friday. As for HMS Queen Elizabeth, she’s undergoing maintenance in Portsmouth Naval Base to prepare for her mission.