Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:24:02-2:25:28

The interservice cost of CATOBAR Queen Elizabeth carriers

A CATOBAR carrier counterfactual considers how F-35Cs and Hawkeyes could overlap with land-based strike and airborne-early-warning programmes.

CATOBARE-2D HawkeyeF-35CInterservice PoliticsQueen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers
Watch at this timeFull video guide
Question

Would CATOBAR Queen Elizabeth-class carriers and STOVL amphibious ships have made sense if the politics could be solved?

Short answer

The configuration is supported in this counterfactual, with the qualification that F-35C and Hawkeye capabilities could have competed with major RAF programmes.

Notes

CATOBAR Queen Elizabeth carriers with F-35Cs and Hawkeyes receive a favourable technical assessment in this counterfactual. The proposed aircraft package also creates competition with land-based programmes. The F-35C's range is compared with the role anticipated for Tempest, while Hawkeye could compete with a separate airborne-early-warning purchase such as Wedgetail. In this interpretation, those overlaps would make the carrier programme harder for the RAF to support. That explanation concerns potential competition between programmes and does not establish the documented cause of each procurement decision.