Queen Elizabeth will officially name the biggest warship Britain has ever built on Friday, the latest step in a 6.2 billion pound ($10.6 billion) project to build a new generation of aircraft carriers.
But the show of military might and engineering expertise comes at a time of financial uncertainty and it remains unclear if the vessel, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be the only carrier of its kind to be deployed by the Royal Navy.
How many U.S.-built F-35 jets it will carry is an open question too, as the project is 2.6 billion pounds ($4.42 billion) over the original budget set out seven years ago.