[Matador.es]

USS Abraham Lincoln provides air support to Afghanistan

When British troops in Helmand need air support, it doesn't only come from airfields within Afghanistan itself - it may come from a floating runway 500 miles away.

The UK may have given up on aircraft carriers for the rest of this decade as a result of the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review, but it is clear that the US Navy sees the carrier as adding a critical element to the coalition effort - including flexibility.