The lineup of twin aircraft carriers can be said to be the last stubbornness of the British Royal Navy; But a very real problem is that with Britain's current national strength, it cannot afford to support these two people.
Recently, a British naval source revealed to the "Daily Mail" that the Royal Navy plans to give the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" to allies or other friendly countries; According to the report, maintaining two aircraft carriers has become a daily nightmare for the Royal Navy, and the environment used in peacetime is very rare, in order to save money, the Royal Navy plans to give the "Prince of Wales" ** to the allies of the United Kingdom and the United States; A former naval officer said that "only nuclear deterrence is Britain's only defense capability", indicating that a significant part of the Royal Navy believes that aircraft carriers are no longer useful for Britain and that the Royal Navy should focus on strategic nuclear submarines.
The Royal Navy immediately denied the news, declaring that "the Royal Navy will be committed to the operation of two aircraft carriers", and former Defense Secretary Wallace warned that "if Britain cannot show sufficient strength, it is equivalent to asking the Prime Minister to publicly admit that Britain is only a follower, not a leader, in the international community." ”
Wait a minute, isn't Britain a follower now? Following the geopolitical policy of the United States, when did it become a leader? Moreover, the problem of maintaining two aircraft carriers is also very realistic: money and people. The Royal Navy now has no money and no people, and even qualified captains are difficult to train, so they have to go to LinkedIn Recruitment ** to recruit openly; The Type 23 frigate is already in a senile state, and the replacement Type 26 frigate is progressing slowly, being launched in 23 years and expected to enter service in 2026.
On top of that, the state of the two aircraft carriers is also embarrassing. Not long ago, the Royal Navy planned to send the aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" to participate in NATO's largest exercise, and then go to the Red Sea to replace the US aircraft carrier "Eisenhower" as the flagship of the "international escort fleet"; As a result, on the afternoon of the day of departure, the "Queen" broke its leg - the propeller failed and could not leave the port, so it had to arrange for its "husband" and "Prince of Wales" to go on the expedition instead.
In fact, this is not the first time that the "Queen" class aircraft carrier has been in trouble. Before the "Queen" aircraft carrier expedition to the Asia-Pacific region, there were constant jokes along the way, the escort ** was not ready, the crew was lost, the carrier-based aircraft was lost, and the aircraft carrier leaked....For this reason, the Royal Navy is embarrassed to claim that it is a "global armed force".
Perhaps, to borrow the famous words of Sir Humphrey, "a well-known permanent secretary of the cabinet", a nuclear bomb can "make the people feel that they are protected", and an aircraft carrier can "make the people feel that their country is strong", but to sum it up: to die is to save face.
Is the current British ** team a global army? No, without the American army, the British army would not have fought a war; Is the UK now one of the global leaders? No, leaving the United States, no one will pay attention to the British half of the sentence.
Seriously, if the Royal Navy really wants to live a good life for a few days, the best way is indeed to sell the "Prince of Wales"; So the question is, who will be the pick-up man? Some think it could be India; But considering that India has put forward its own plan to build its second aircraft carrier, it is unlikely that India will consider introducing such a half-hanging aircraft carrier whose technology is not mature enough and has a problem, and the most important thing is that the "Queen" class aircraft carrier is mainly designed with the F-35B as a carrier-based aircraft, but India estimates that it will not be able to buy this fighter for a while and a half, and it will be an empty shell when it is bought.
So who will take over? Australia is actually the most likely to take over, after all, Australia has just announced an ambitious naval expansion plan, and it can also get the F-35B, so in the future, we are likely to run into this aircraft carrier not far from our doorstep.
Finally, I would like to say that with the current virtue of the Royal Navy, I am afraid that Nelson will be so angry that he will get up from the coffin, sigh and lie down again.