Hong Kong (CNN) Britain's new aircraft carrier will go to the Pacific on its first operational mission, Defense Minister Gavin Williamson has revealed.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London on Monday, Williamson said the 65,000-ton carrier Queen Elizabeth -- which was commissioned in late 2017 -- would also make appearances in the Mediterranean and Middle East along the way as Britain flexed its military muscles post-Brexit.

"The UK is a global power with truly global interest ... we must be prepared to compete for our interests and our values far, far from home," Williamson said.

The carrier, Britain's largest and most powerful warship, will carry its contingent of state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jets as well as US Marine Corps F-35s as it ventures into a region where "China is developing its modern military capability and its commercial power," Williamson added.

A new F-35B Lightning fighter jet is prepped for take off from the deck of the United Kingdom's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea in September 2018.

The combined US-UK air wing aboard the carrier will improve "the reach and lethality of our forces" while "reinforcing the fact that the United States remains our very closest of partners," he said.