Author Topic: The Royal Navy Is Back (Thanks to a New Aircraft Carrier Armed with Stealth F-35s)  (Read 332 times)

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rangerrebew

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The Royal Navy Is Back (Thanks to a New Aircraft Carrier Armed with Stealth F-35s)
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The Queen Elizabeth is coming soon.
Kyle Mizokami [2]

The first new Royal Navy aircraft carrier in thirty years is nearing sea trials. After a brief absence from the world of fixed-wing naval aviation the Royal Navy’s brand new flattop HMS Queen Elizabeth and its sister ship, Prince of Wales, will soon sail the seas, their decks full of new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The result will be the most powerful “Senior Service” in generations.

The Royal Navy was one of the first naval warfare forces to explore the nascent world of naval aviation. HMS Argus [3], commissioned in September 1918, was arguably the first aircraft carrier with a full-length flight deck. The UK was one of the major aircraft carrier powers throughout World War II, and continued to operate carriers in the postwar period.

By 1982, the Royal Navy had committed to building three Invincible-class carriers. Somewhat scaled back from earlier ships, and dwarfed by the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers, the Invincible class was more suited to antisubmarine warfare duties against the Soviet Navy, keeping the sea lines of communication between North America and Europe clear in the event of World War III. The Invincibles could sail with a complement of up to twenty-two aircraft, typically a mixture of Sea Harrier fighters and Sea King helicopters.


Source URL (retrieved on February 21, 2017): http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-royal-navy-back-thanks-new-aircraft-carrier-armed-19488