HMS Queen Elizabeth released imagery on October 4, 2026 showing its gunners firing during darkness as part of routine training to keep weapons crews ready at sea. The 65,000-tonne carrier said the night shoots are essential exercises for maintaining operational readiness.
The firing sits inside a wider recovery effort after a recertification docking period. HMS Queen Elizabeth has been working through aviation, replenishment at sea and shipboard training milestones to rebuild the skills needed for front-line operations.
HMS Queen Elizabeth readiness trail
On 24 September, HMS Queen Elizabeth said a Wildcat AH1 helicopter from 847 Naval Air Squadron had landed aboard. The carrier described that landing as the beginning of the return of aviation operations after the docking period.
Earlier in September, the ship carried out its first replenishment at sea since 2024 with RFA Tidespring. Those steps matter because the carrier is not rebuilding one skill at a time; it is restoring the mix of aviation, fuel transfer and shipboard work that keeps a carrier group moving.
Royal Navy carrier operations
HMS Queen Elizabeth is one of two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers operated by the Royal Navy, alongside HMS Prince of Wales. The two ships were designed primarily around carrier aviation, with F-35B Lightning aircraft providing the principal offensive capability.
Helicopters and shipboard systems also support surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, logistics and force protection. The night firing shows the weapons crews are being brought back into the full operating rhythm alongside those aviation tasks, not left as a separate drill on the edge of the programme.
The sequence leaves one practical point for crews and planners: the carrier is rebuilding capability in stages, and the night shoot is one of the clearest signs that weapons training is moving back into that cycle. How soon HMS Queen Elizabeth reaches full front-line operational readiness is not stated.
