The British aircraft carrier Prince of Wales departed from the port of Portsmouth on February 12 to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's "Resolute Guardian 2024" military exercise in Norwegian waters. The exercise, which began on 24 January, was intended to send the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier to participate in the exercise, but due to a malfunction in the thruster's shaft, the Prince of Wales had to take its place. The Prince of Wales was supposed to leave on the 11th of February, but the British Navy had been informed that it would be postponed until the 12th. After a series of twists and turns, the Prince of Wales finally set sail.
Queen Elizabeth, along with the Prince of Wales, is a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier with three main advantages. First, its power system is leading, the first use of gas turbine and all-electric drive, both diesel engine economy, gas turbine power-to-weight ratio, fast start and other advantages, so that it has a durable, stable energy supply and high-speed navigation performance, to ensure long-distance long-distance navigation and combat.
Second, it adopts a unique two-ship island structure, with the front ship island commanding and the rear ship island controlling, which can avoid the bridge for better forward observation and better guidance of the ship. In addition, the structure of the twin islands also provides a good solution for the electromagnetic compatibility of electronic devices.
Third: the strength of the aircraft carrier is at the international leading level, the Queen Elizabeth can carry 36-40 aircraft carriers of different types, with the F-35B as the main body, with vertical take-off and stealth functions, with strong concealment, not easy to be detected by the enemy's air defense system. In addition, the F-35B is also equipped with an advanced radar and a powerful system capable of accurate and over-the-horizon attacks. Empress Elizabeth can carry the EH-101 anti-submarine ***AH-64 combat ***, as well as other models of the F-35B.
In the whole world, only the United States has a fifth-generation stealth fighter, so the Queen Elizabeth is a combat capability after the "Ford" and "Nimitz". I just don't understand, why such an advanced aircraft carrier will "drop the chain" at a critical moment? Since the aircraft carrier Elizabeth was commissioned, there have been many unexpected incidents such as leaks, which have exposed serious shortcomings in British shipbuilding. Under the severe financial situation, many famous shipyards in the United Kingdom have closed their doors and closed down, including many large shipyards such as Portsmouth and Appledore, which have closed one after another, and the British shipbuilding industry has also fallen into recession.
The British Navy lacked not only shipbuilding technology, but also excellent crews. The British defense department revealed in the defense report of the 2010 year that the British navy is constantly decreasing, and its total strength is less than 4000 people. After that, the problem became bigger and bigger, and even caused a big obstacle to normal military activities.
The British Royal Navy looks beautiful on the outside, but it is very dependent on American assistance, such as American-made aircraft carriers and some equipment that are American. After breaking away from the United States, the true power of Britain will be revealed.
Edited by Woo Tsai).
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