Drone Lands on $5 Billion British Warship

An unnamed operator was able to land his $500 consumer photography drone on the deck of the British Royal Navy’s flagship vessel, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is due to be commissioned by the Queen later this year.

"I was amazed that I was able to land on the aircraft carrier for two reasons, the first being that there was no one about to prevent it from landing, although there were security police around in small boats who were waving at the drone," he told Scottish media.

His second reason was more technical.

“I received a high wind warning as I was videoing up and down the flight deck and my control system advised me to land,” he said.

The pilot said he contacted security staff at the port in Invergordon and was told his concerns about lack of personal guarding the ship would be “passed up the chain of command.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense told the BBC: “We take the security of HMS Queen Elizabeth very seriously.

"This incident has been reported to Police Scotland, an investigation is under way and we stepped up our security measures in light of it."

Former Royal Navy Chief Lord West had concerns about the incident because of rising uses of drones within terrorist groups.

He told The Daily Mail: "[Islamic State] are already using drones to deliver bombs in Syria, so I think it is something we need to take very seriously."