Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:28:33-1:29:53

Queen Elizabeth carriers in a five-deck fleet

The carrier design is defended as part of a flexible British fleet in which carriers and LHDs can cover one another's aviation and amphibious roles.

Aircraft CarriersAmphibious WarfareForce StructureQueen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers
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Question

Are the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers a good design?

Short answer

Yes at the strategic level: STOVL aircraft allow carriers and LHDs to share aviation roles, giving a smaller fleet more usable flight decks.

Notes

Although catapults offer advantages at the individual carrier level, STOVL aviation can be strategically sensible for a smaller navy. Two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers paired with three LHDs would provide five interoperable flight decks. An LHD would be a less capable strike carrier and a fleet carrier a less efficient amphibious ship, but either could cover a missing hull in an emergency. Common aircraft can create force-level resilience even when each deck is optimized for a different primary role.