Recently, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced plans to hold the largest joint military exercise since the Cold War, targeting Russia. It is reported that the exercise will mobilize up to 90,000 troops, including more than 80 fighter jets and thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as more than 50 aircraft carriers, an unprecedented scale. However, on the eve of the exercise, Queen Elizabeth II was in a difficult situation, and her proud aircraft carrier HMS Elizabeth was forced to return to the factory for repairs due to mechanical problems, and was unable to participate in the scheduled first phase of military training as scheduled.
As the flagship of the British Navy, the Empress Elizabeth aircraft carrier has a rare two-ship island structure in the world, which can carry advanced systems such as F-35B fighters and a variety of unmanned aircraft. However, the aircraft carrier, which cost a lot of money to build, has been plagued by repeated failures. Just last year, the aircraft carrier dropped anchor near the Isle of Wight due to a starboard propeller joint problem, which led to the cancellation of a planned trip to the United States. Now, for the same reason, the Empress Elizabeth has been forced back to the factory for repairs, and it will take at least a week before it can be put back into training.
In order to compensate for this embarrassing situation, Britain ** had to use another aircraft carrier of the same class "Prince of Wales" as an alternative. However, embarrassingly, the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales has suffered similar mechanical failures. Eighteen months ago, the aircraft carrier was also forced to anchor near the Isle of Wight due to a starboard propeller shaft failure on its way to the United States. This put the aircraft carrier forces of the British Navy in an unprecedented predicament.
The development of the aircraft carrier Empress Elizabeth was full of twists and turns. From the start of the project to the commissioning, it has gone through more than ten years of hard construction. However, even after commissioning, the aircraft carrier continued to suffer frequent breakdowns and accidents. The most shocking of these is that many of the crashes originated from one of the core components of the aircraft carrier, the drive shaft of the thruster. Although the British Navy claims that this problem is not uncommon in new types, the frequency of these low-level accidents has undoubtedly exposed the UK's negligence in maintenance, management and technical support.
The fact that an expensive aircraft carrier has problems with so many core components is not only a mockery of the British Navy's former glory, but also a reflection of the decline of British power and the imbalance of foreign strategy. Despite this, the UK** does not seem to have learned from this and continues to stir up popular sentiments, trying to demonstrate to Russia by participating in NATO military exercises.
The NATO military exercise, called Guardian 2024, aims to strengthen the cooperative combat capabilities of NATO member countries and demonstrate their strong military power to Russia. However, against the backdrop of the breakdown of the British aircraft carrier, the exercise seemed more like a farce. Analysts believe the exercise is more about creating tensions, stepping up support for Ukraine and a means of containing Russia than a real military operation.
In the face of NATO's military exercises and the plight of the United Kingdom, the Russian side also responded accordingly. In order to cope with the huge size of NATO's army, Putin personally visited Kaliningrad to demonstrate Russia's strategic nuclear forces to the outside world. This is undoubtedly a warning to NATO that Russia is not defenseless, and that its nuclear bombs have a range sufficient to cover all countries.
Putin's actions have left NATO countries deeply jealous, and they have begun to reflect on the potentially devastating effects of a head-on confrontation with Russia. Thus, while NATO military exercises appear to be massive on the surface, they are in fact more of a political and diplomatic ploy than a real military operation.
Dynamic incentive plan in February For the UK, this aircraft carrier failure is undoubtedly a heavy blow. In order to rebuild the glory of the British "Royal Navy", Britain should re-examine its national defense policy, increase investment, improve operational efficiency, and ensure stable military investment. Only in this way can Britain truly get rid of the predicament of "being a strong foreign power in the middle" and restore its status as a great maritime power in the world. At the same time, Britain should also realize that it is impossible to safeguard national interests by relying only on a single system such as aircraft carriers, and only a comprehensive development of diversified military forces can ensure the security and stability of the country.