A SUPERSIZE American aircraft carrier used in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has anchored just off the coast in Hampshire.

The USS George HW Bush, a 97,000-tonne and 1,092ft-long Nimitz class aircraft carrier, one of 10 in the American Naval fleet, dropped its anchor in the Solent’s Stokes Bay yesterday.

The carrier and its crew have been deployed for seven months in the Gulf and the Mediterranean, launching airstrikes as part of the 72-member international coalition, committed to eradicating Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

They are now gearing up for the next part of their mission, known as Exercise Saxon Warrior, one of the largest war games co-hosted by the UK and US, which will begin on Monday and involve Nato partners.

Speaking on board the warship, Commodore Andrew Betton, commander of the Royal Navy’s carrier strike group said: “With the Nato task group and the George HW Bush task group, we are going to be exercising anti-submarine, anti-air and land attack capabilities over the next couple of weeks.”

Commissioned at the beginning of 2009, the USS George HW Bush carries up to 80 aircraft on its four-and-a-half-acre flight deck, as well as 5,000 personnel and aircrew.