STOVL aircraft as a medium-power fleet system

Will the Queen Elizabeth class eventually be converted to CATOBAR operation?

Probably not, because STOVL operation fits a flexible British fleet in which F-35Bs could also use future ski-jump LHDs.

A CATOBAR conversion is considered unlikely because pairing two STOVL carriers with ski-jump LHDs offers greater operational flexibility. A common F-35B pool could use every flight deck, allowing an amphibious ship to provide limited carrier cover or a carrier to support helicopter operations in an emergency. For a medium power, a reliably available seventy-percent capability may be more useful than an ideal capability available only occasionally. A four-carrier Royal Navy could sensibly choose CATOBAR because the larger force would supply the redundancy that the two-carrier fleet lacks.