The Carrier Strike Group is seen as the beginning of the British Government's tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region in terms of defence and foreign policy,[2] that had been announced in March through the Integrated Review.

[15] In September 2020, as part of NATO's Exercise Joint Warrior 2020–2, the full carrier strike group of nine surface vessels and accompanying air wing assembled for the first time in the North Sea,[16] under the command of Commodore Steve Moorhouse.

[19] In 2016 the UK had moved a satellite in its Skynet military communications system eastward to extend coverage to east Asia and the western Pacific Ocean, and opened a ground station in Australia.

[23] During her time in Scotland, the vessel also held a memorial service on board for the Second World War escort carrier HMS Dasher, which suffered a major internal explosion and sank off Ardrossan in March 1943.

[25] USS The Sullivans departed Naval Station Mayport on 19 April, bound for the United Kingdom in order to join the carrier strike group for deployment.

[28][29] 820 Naval Air Squadron spent the week before departure to Exercise Strike Warrior, on conducting dummy launch trials for the Sting Ray torpedo in Falmouth Bay;[30] before its three Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control (ASaC), and four anti-submarine Merlin Mk2 helicopters embarked on the Queen Elizabeth on 27 April.

[31][32] The strike group's four Lynx Wildcat helicopters of 815 Naval Air Squadron left their base at RNAS Yeovilton on 1 May,[33] and embarked on each of the four Royal Navy escorts.

[36] The exercise picked right back up from when the group disbanded the previous autumn, and took place at the Maritime Warfare School, at HMS Collingwood in Fareham, utilising the base's combined simulation training suite.

[45] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, port visits were restricted to only those needed for operational and logistical reasons, and all personnel were required to isolate for 14 days before embarking onto their respective ships.

[47] The exercise saw two MV-22B Osprey from the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 stationed on board the USS Iwo Jima land on HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time,[34] along with the first launch of a Crowsnest radar-equipped Merlin helicopter from a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier,[48] and the first Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missiles being fired from a British F-35 fighter – the first missile firings from a British jet at sea for 15 years.

[49] Originally, the Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to anchor in The Solent in order to maintain a COVID-secure state, however due to forecasted heavy winds, she instead docked alongside at HMNB Portsmouth with personnel remaining on board.

[57][58] HMS Queen Elizabeth was originally planned to depart Portsmouth on 23 May, however in order to avoid the strong winds that had been forecasted,[59] she instead left port in the evening of the 22 May,[60][61] along with USS The Sullivans.

Between 20 and 28 May in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal, the maritime element of the exercise included 18 vessels from 11 different nations, and was directed from the newly raised Joint Force Command Norfolk based on board the USS Mount Whitney.

[73] Whilst in the Mediterranean, the strike group joined Operation Shader in the fight against Daesh;[74] before continuing on through the Suez Canal and stopping at the British military port in Duqm.

[96] Lieutenant Colonel Andrew D'Ambrogi, the commanding officer of VMFA-211, said that the deployment was a chance to experiment with the downsized squadron and ensure that it is capable enough to meet the output that is required to execute the mission.