Comparisons between now and the 1930s are rife these days. There’s economic anxiety and global instability. There’s a threat of war. There’s hesitant rearmament here in Britain.
And, as in the 1930s, the planes which fly from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers belong to the RAF – with disastrous consequences for the ships’ effectiveness. Back then, the Fleet Air Arm was not a priority for the RAF, and the FAA had the unenviable distinction of being one of the few air forces still equipped with biplanes at the start of WWII.
Today the F-35B jump jet, the only plane which can fly from our carriers, is Britain’s only modern fifth-generation fighter. As a result it is difficult to get the RAF to release any aircraft for carrier operations. Though the ships are designed for 36 planes, neither carrier has ever had more than eight British jets aboard. Usually they don’t have any: in 2022, for instance, there were jets aboard ship just 5 per cent of the time.
In theory things will improve temporarily this year. HMS Prince of Wales will deploy to the Far East, apparently at least some of the time with an air group including 24 British jets – still only two-thirds of what she was built to carry, but better than eight as on the last real carrier deployment in 2021. And the Navy might get another go with the train set, why, as soon as 2029.
Comparisons between now and the 1930s are rife these days. There’s economic anxiety and global instability. There’s a threat of war. There’s hesitant rearmament here in Britain.
And, as in the 1930s, the planes which fly from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers belong to the RAF – with disastrous consequences for the ships’ effectiveness. Back then, the Fleet Air Arm was not a priority for the RAF, and the FAA had the unenviable distinction of being one of the few air forces still equipped with biplanes at the start of WWII.
Today the F-35B jump jet, the only plane which can fly from our carriers, is Britain’s only modern fifth-generation fighter. As a result it is difficult to get the RAF to release any aircraft for carrier operations. Though the ships are designed for 36 planes, neither carrier has ever had more than eight British jets aboard. Usually they don’t have any: in 2022, for instance, there were jets aboard ship just 5 per cent of the time.
In theory things will improve temporarily this year. HMS Prince of Wales will deploy to the Far East, apparently at least some of the time with an air group including 24 British jets – still only two-thirds of what she was built to carry, but better than eight as on the last real carrier deployment in 2021. And the Navy might get another go with the train set, why, as soon as 2029.