The British Royal Navy is braced for one of its flagship aircraft carriers to be attacked by the Houthi rebels as it travels in the Red Sea.
Plans have been drawn up for F-35 fighter jets to launch strikes against Houthis should HMS Prince of Wales come under a bombardment as it passes through a choke point in the Red Sea.
Downing Street has also given the elite Special Boat Service and Royal Marines permission to launch a rescue mission if any fighter pilot is shot down, according to Whitehall sources.
HMS Prince of Wales will shortly pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, on its way to a deployment in the Pacific. It is understood to have 18 F-35 planes on board.
Plans have been drawn up for F-35 fighter jets to launch strikes against Houthi camps should HMS Prince of Wales come under a bombardment in the Red Sea
HMS Prince of Wales (pictured) is understood to have 18 F-35 planes on board for its latest deployment through the Red Sea
The Houthi, a militant group in Yemen aligned with Iran, has launched more than 500 attacks on ships.
The 65,000-ton HMS Prince of Wales will be protected by HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer boasting the Sea Viper defense system.
HMS Prince of Wales recently sailed through the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Italy, to hone its response to being bombarded by drones and missiles. A Ministry of Defense spokesman said: 'We do not comment on routing for operational security reasons.'