As an important weapon of a big country, the aircraft carrier occupies an important position in the modern military structure. China is about to enter the era of three aircraft carriers in 2025, opening a new chapter in navigation. The empire that the sun never sets, as the former maritime overlord, has long launched an ambitious dual aircraft carrier plan.
I just didn't expect that in the past decade or so, They spent $80 billion building aircraft carriers.Without the expected effect, on the contrary, it became a “large burden” for the Navy.
An ambitious set sail
When the British government officially confirmed the construction of two 65,000-ton giant ships, Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, around 2014, the whole country was excited.
As the largest warships in the history of the Royal Navy, they are given high hopes, carrying advanced F-35B hidden fighter jets, with innovative double-ship island design and full-electric propulsion systems. Intended to be in global waters,Especially in the area east of the Suez Canal, it has re-projected strong influence and announced the strong return of British sea power.
The birth of these two aircraft carriers is undoubtedly an affectionate look back on Britain's past glory and a big gamble on its future international status.
However, under the magnificent blueprint, the foundation is not as solid as a rock.The shadow of the global financial crisis in 2008 was far from dissipated, and the public finances of the UK continued to be under pressure and the deficit was high.
Faced with such a huge gold-eating beast, the embarrassment of the purse has become a lingering shadow.
In order to squeeze out construction funds, especially to ensure that the No. 2 ship "Prince of Wales" can be put into service as soon as possible to achieve the long-cherished wish of a "dual aircraft carrier formation", the British defense department made many far-reaching compromises during the design and construction process.
In 2024, US media reported that in the past 15 years,The British Navy invested a lot in the construction and maintenance of the two aircraft carriers, which amounted to about $20 billion.
The most eye-catching thing is the choice of power system. Although nuclear power can provide nearly unlimited endurance and strong power, the high R&D, construction and later maintenance costs discouraged the UK, and finally adopted a relatively conventional power solution.
Although this option reduces the initial investment on the books, But it also burst into many subsequent issues.After the steel giant ship struggled to enter the water, the real challenge had just surfaced.
The "sick body" of the giant ship
Two queen-class aircraft carriers, especially the Prince of Wales, from the date of service, It’s like a water reverse mode., all kinds of faults and accidents followed one after another, leaving them in an embarrassing situation of either repairing the dock or on the way to repair the dock for a long time.
In August 2022, the "Prince of Wales" was eagerly embarked on a joint US-British military exercise, but on the way, the right-wing spiral shaft accidentally broke, and the 33-ton spiral shaft had to be dismantled.
Furthermore, during subsequent repairs, it was also found that there were problems with the unaligned installation of its left-handed spiral beams. This accident resulted in the repairs of its sleeve for more than six months, Expensive global deployment plans are blurred.
The "Queen Elizabeth" also failed to survive, and in the follow-up inspection was also exposed to the presence of hidden hazards in the key parts of the propulsion axis.
The "Prince of Wales" suffered two serious water leakage accidents in succession in 2020. The first time caused multiple compartments inside the ship to look like water curtain holes. The second time was even more dangerous. The water depth in the power cabin reached 1 meter, and a large number of electrical equipment was damaged. It took nearly half a year to repair it.
The water leak seemed to be the norm for two aircraft carriers. The "Queen Elizabeth" leaked 200 liters of water per hour shortly after it entered service at the end of 2017 due to the failure of the propeller driveshaft seal ring.
At the beginning of 2018, the fire spray system software failed, the tank was flooded and the sea test program was forced to be postponed. British naval officials had reluctantly said that the leakage was almost a weekly routine.
What’s worse is that the budget has also severely weakened the aircraft carrier’s self-defense skills, with the Prince of Wales, for example, equipped with only three limited range “intensive armies” of near-defense guns and four 30-mm small-caliber shell guns.
This weak firepower configuration, in the face of saturated attacks from modern ship missiles,Defense capabilities have been widely questioned, forcing it to rely heavily on protection from escort fleets.
Frequent failures and weak self-defense survival ability made the aura of these two giant ships quickly dim. Faced with high maintenance bills and limited maritime deployment capabilities, their existence value has begun to be tortured as never before.
Difficult to endure.
Spending huge sums of money to send aircraft carriers into the sea is only the first step in the Long March of thousands of miles. The daily operation, maintenance, personnel training, fuel consumption, equipment depreciation and other expenses of these two 65,000-ton giants constitute a bottomless gold black hole.
According to industry analysis estimates, the cost of a carrier’s full life cycle is often several times more than its original construction.
Taking 2023 as an example alone, the UK's total defense budget is about more than 60 billion US dollars.And the maintenance costs of the two queen-class aircraft carriers accounted for a considerable part of them, which undoubtedly set a heavy lock on the formerly impoverished defense finance, if this is counted, the amount spent by Britain on the two aircraft carriers has exceeded 80 billion.
The current situation of the British aircraft carrier once again confirms what Zhang Zhaozhong said. He once warned that the British aircraft carrier plan may cause financial problems and even drag down economic development.
Even more worrying, the support system that supports the aircraft carrier’s operations in the Far Oceans is also full of holes.The Royal Navy currently has dozens of destroyers and escort ships, but the actual service rate is poorly low, making it difficult to meet the need to provide regular, adequate escort for the two aircraft carriers.
At the start of the 2022 exercise, the Prince of Wales was forced to rely on the U.S. and its allies' warships and aircraft to serve as a knife guard and complementary ship-carrying force, and the Royal Navy's independent operational capabilities were greatly reduced.
It has been in service for 30 years, Comprehensive Supply Ship "Victoria" near the retirement year,It is the only super nanny of the British Navy that can provide all-round supply support such as ammunition, fuel, and food for these two aircraft carriers.
Once this unique refuelling ship is withdrawn or the situation occurs, the British carrier’s global deployment capacity will be devastatingly hit. The heavy load of operating costs and the severe lack of critical supporting forces are just cutting off the wings of the two carrier long-haul.
Massive investments and embarrassing status quo forced Britain to rethink the future roles of the two steel giants.
Despite the profound difficulties, the shadow is not entirely bright. In November 2023, the "Prince of Wales" successfully completed the first aircraft carrier take-off test of the large Mojave drone.
Although this is only a basic verification, it is like a ray of light penetrating through the clouds, opening up imagination for the UK to explore a new combat model of "drone + aircraft carrier" in the future, and may provide new ideas for the future use and development strategy of aircraft carriers.
But in the face of ongoing economic pressures and huge deficits in public finances, the Labour government has made it clear it will be difficult to significantly increase military spending and even demand further cuts in military spending.
The British media has repeatedly that the military is seriously considering the strategy of "rotating lock-in", that is, keeping one aircraft carrier in service for a long time while the other is under maintenance or low-warranty lock-in. To alleviate the unbearable operational burden.
The twin-ship formation, which once symbolized rejuvenation, is now inevitably shrinking and adjusting under the weight of reality. Zhang Zhaozhong's prediction about fiscal risks back then has been emotionally confirmed in the passage of time.
Looking back at the difficult voyage of the British twin aircraft carriers, from the highly anticipated national weapon to the current deep maintenance quagmire and financial difficulties, its journey is like a costly strategic practice lesson.
Any ambitious military project, especially an aircraft carrier, must be built on a solid foundation that matches the country’s economic strength, industrial technology base, and long-term fiscal planning. Out of real ambition.It tends to fade under the washing of the huge waves of reality.
The future of maritime power will inevitably be the combination of national strength, financial power, technology and strategic wisdom.The difficulty of the British aircraft carrier road will eventually become a unique chapter in the history of the world naval development.
Primary sources
Foreign media: Dual aircraft carriers can hardly help the British Navy relive its old dreams-China Youth Daily 2024-11-12
“British aircraft carrier forced back Chinese submarines in the South China Sea?” British netizens: etc., what do we do in China’s sea? — Northern Night Online 2023-02-12 1
Watching the aircraft carrier failure, military ship collision... Deep problems make the British Navy embarrassing. — News 2024-02-07
Interpretation: Why did the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales, which had high hopes, have a bad fate? --China Youth Network 2024-05-10