U.K.'s newest carrier joins IS fight, stirs Russian interest

Britain’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is helping to take on the “lion’s share” of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq, U.K. naval commanders said. It has also piqued the interest of Russian warplanes, who try to keep tabs on its cutting-edge F-35 jet in a “cat-and-mouse” game with British and U.S. pilots.

Speaking aboard the 65,000-ton carrier on its first-ever deployment, Commodore Steve Moorhouse said the U.K. is carrying out most of the missions to wipe out the remnants of IS in Iraq as the U.S. focuses on its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“At the moment, we’re taking on the lion’s share of that operation over Iraq, which is a fantastic, say, feather in our cap. But an achievement that ‘A’, we’re trusted and ‘B’, that we’re able to do that,” Moorhouse told reporters Sunday.

It’s the first time that a U.K. aircraft carrier is supporting live military operations on the ground in over two decades, projecting British military power on a global scale. Moorhouse said the carrier offers the U.K. flexibility in how to conduct military operations abroad and “keeps those that wish to cause us harm ... on their toes.”