An F-35B flown by British pilots completed the first landing and take-off aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 25, becoming the first fixed-wing aircraft to operate on a Royal Navy carrier at sea in eight years. 

The landings, announced by the UK Ministry of Defense three days later, begin 11 weeks of flight trials off the U.S. coast for the Queen Elizabeth II, to include the shipborne rolling vertical landing maneuver tailored for the Royal Navy warship.