Fears Royal Navy will be left 'short-handed' when HMS Queen Elizabeth's task group deploys next year

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier will be setting sail from her home in Portsmouth in early 2021, accompanied by a pair of Type 45 destroyers, two frigates, support vessels and potentially a hunter-killer submarine.

The operation is expected to involve thousands of sailors and will be the largest single mission undertaken by a Royal Navy task force in years.

However, concerns have been raised the huge scale of the mission could leave the Senior Service unable to respond to crises elsewhere in the world.

Questioning the operation during a debate in the House of Lords, Labour peer Lord Frank Judd said: ‘What are the implications for our flexibility and speed of response, and for the role that must be played by the Royal Navy in such a response, if something arises elsewhere in the world?

‘Will we become a bit tied and muscle-bound by where we are down there if we do not have the flexibility to respond elsewhere?’

Defence minister Baroness Annabel Goldie insisted the navy would be able to cope.

The Tory peer said: ‘I reassure the noble lord that the deployment of the carrier strike group 21 does not leave the navy short-handed for other priorities. The Royal Navy has sufficient ships and submarines to meet its global commitments.’

Her comments came as she refused to be pressed on the exact programme of the £3.2bn warship’s maiden mission - and in particular whether she will sail to the South China Sea.

The region is a political hotcake, contested by the Chinese who are seeking to expand their dominance in the sea.

However, Beijing’s actions have been condemned by the international community, with critics branding the power grab as a threat to navigational rights in the sea.

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Admiral Lord Alan West, a vociferous critic of China’s claim in the region, insisted the navy must deploy to the contested sea.

‘There are real concerns about Chinese behaviour, and I believe it is right we should show solidarity with our friends in the region,’ he said.

‘This year, Australia has increased defence spending by a massive 70 per cent and Japan by eight per cent —a seventh consecutive annual increase.

‘Both countries have cited concerns over China’s aggressive actions. There is a need for strong alliances in the region. Sending a carrier task group is a good way of showing support, but we must not deal in half measures.’

Baroness Goldie said the UK had ‘enduring interests’ in the Indo-Pacific and south-east Asian regions.

But she added: ‘I cannot comment on where the Queen Elizabeth is going, how she is going to get there or what route she will take. All of that will be unfolded to parliament in due course.’

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