Lack of carriers leaves massive gap

The defensive and offensive capability of the Royal Navy is at an all time low due to the massive gap in effectiveness caused by our current lack of operational aircraft carriers.

HMS Ark Royal has been listed on the website edisposals.com just a fortnight after being decommissioned at her home port of Portsmouth.

The move follows the sale of her sister ship HMS Invincible on the same website recently, she has now been towed away to a scrapyard in Turkey.

This leaves the united kingdom with no operational aircraft carriers in service, our airborne capability reduced to heli assault ships such as HMS Ocean.

The replacement carriers are currently in the process of being constructed in various shipyards around the country. Once complete the parts will be assembled in a Scottish shipyard before being commissioned into service.

The first new Queen Elizabeth class carrier is not due into service until 2014 and is to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth with the second being named HMS Prince Of Wales not to be commissioned into service until 2016.

According to the latest strategic defence review (sdr) the first of these carriers will see service for only three years and never carry any aircraft, the second will not see a plane until 2020 when the F35, which is to be built by Lockheed Martin and BAE systems is scheduled to be ready replacing the Navies Sea Harrier capability which is to be scrapped next year. The short vertical take off and landing (svtol) version of this aircraft has already been scrapped meaning that extra costs will be incurred designing an electric catapult for the vessels.

In the meantime, the UK will be required to rely on European neighbours, notably the French, for its carrier requirements. Just one step closer to a combined EU super-state military with no sovereign status and controlled from Brussels.

sources:

royalnavy.mod.uk
telegraph.co.uk

Tags: assault, carrier, defensive, effectiveness, HMS Ocean, Invincible, Navy, Portsmouth, Queen Elizabeth, Royal, scrapyard, ship

Category: Rory