The Royal Navy is planning to procure an additional Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier in what is being dubbed a “bold response to mounting global tensions and a resurgent Russia,” according to UK Defence Journal. The news comes from a leaked consultation document that has circulated within the Ministry of Defence.
Sources close to the Ministry have said that the vessel, likely to be named HMS Prince Andrew, will build on the experience gained from the design, construction, and operation from HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Official confirmation is still to come but the scale and ambition of the programme, according to UK Defence Journal, have “caught even seasoned defence watchers off guard.”
The first two vessels of the class will remain in a Short-Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration with the Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter plane operating from it. But the leaked document highlights dramatic changes for the third ship. It will include six catapults, allowing “modern Harriers or something, or naval Typhoon” to be launched from the ship.
The HMS Prince Andrew is expected to be around 480 metres in length, and, with the other two ships is expected to cost the Royal Navy a combined £987.6 billion, assuming no further adjustments, delays, or “unexpected procurement events.”
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