United Kingdom plans to counter China with HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier according to the Times. The 5.6 billion Dollar vessel is expected to visit the Far East, to conduct military exercises with the US and Japan during its maiden grand voyage next year.

The carrier will be accompanied by two Type 45 destroyers, two Type 23 frigates and two replenishment tankers. It will also have two squadrons of F-35B Lightning II fighters on board. It is likely one of those squadrons will be from the RAF while the other could be from the US Marine Corps, the Times reports.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “HMS Queen Elizabeth and its escorts will offer the United Kingdom a world-class sovereign carrier strike capability. No decision has been made on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s deployment.”