Project Ark Royal examined possible future changes to the Queen Elizabeth class, including a launch system intended for drones rather than E-2 Hawkeyes. The Royal Navy routinely produces such papers to understand what a hull can accept and what each alteration would cost. Historians can misread wartime studies in the same way, treating one proposal among dozens, such as rearming Nelson-class ships with American guns, as an approved intention. These studies let the Navy give a minister consequences and prices without beginning from zero when a new idea is proposed.
Notable Point · 3:49:02-3:50:53
Project Ark Royal was an option study, not a program
Royal Navy design papers test costs and consequences so officials can answer future questions; they do not prove that a conversion was planned.