World War II marked the end of the battleship. World War III is marking the end of the aircraft carrier:
Both of Britain’s aircraft carriers, which are said to serve as the backbone of the Royal Navy, would have major battlefield vulnerabilities in a potential conflict with a near-peer adversary, The Times reported on Friday, citing sources.
A defense source told the paper that the UK military had run a “whole load of scenarios” simulating a full-scale conflict, in which the navy’s “ability to survive” was tested against an “overwhelming force.” The war games, the details of which are secret, involved HMS Queen Elizabeth – the fleet’s current flagship – and HMS Prince of Wales, which were commissioned in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Designed to project UK power across the globe, both vessels can carry up to 40 aircraft, including advanced F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters, and can host helicopters for anti-submarine warfare as well as troop transports. A Times source familiar with the situation admitted that “in most war games, the carriers get sunk,” adding that the ships are particularly vulnerable to missiles.
It’s interesting that Russia still hasn’t demonstrated its objections to British support and funding for Ukraine by sinking one of these white elephants. Whereas sinking a US Navy carrier would provoke an unnecessary hot war with the USA, what is Britain going to do? Send the other one to the Baltic? And further support for Ukraine isn’t a threat since it’s already provided its long-range missiles to Russia.
This development has been obvious for some time, but it’s fascinating to actually reach this point in history. It will also be interesting to see if any carriers are actually sunk or if the navies of the world will simply stop producing new ships and maintaining the existing ones.