Royal Navy: HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales would "get sunk" in most war games, report says

The Times reports that advancing technology and other factors mean HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth are vulnerable in “most war games”. The Royal Navy has slammed the report for emphasising “worst case fictitious scenarios”.

One source told familiar with UK military war games told The Times that in “most war games, the carriers get sunk”, adding that they were susceptible to missiles. Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, said missile technology was developing at such a rate that it was becoming feasible to “locate and track” aircraft carriers.

China is currently developing its range of anti-ship ballistic missiles and supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as advanced long-range radars to identify hostile ships. The Times said Beijing’s hypersonic glide vehicle, the DF-17, is a -particular concern as it can target bases and fleets in the western Pacific while evading existing missile defence systems - describing it as a “potentially formidable weapon”.

Another British military source told the publication that a range of scenarios were trialled to test the Royal Navy’s “ability to survive” against “overwhelming force”. They said everything was stretched to the limit, and “you will get to a scenario where it [the carrier] is sunk.” The Times said the recent sinking of the Russian Moskva cruiser by a Ukrainian anti-ship missiles in 2022 exposed a weakness of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The government is currently carrying out a Strategic Defence Review, where defence officials and ministers are reviewing the scope of the armed forces, how they are utilised, where money is spent and other factors. There are concerns regarding the amount of money available to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) following the recent October budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves allocated an extra £2.9bn to the MoD, but Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director General of the Royal United Services Institute. said in a recent defence select committee meeting that “hard choices” still need to be made in regards to armed forces spending, even if there is a trajectory to raise spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

In contrast to the concerns raised about the carriers, Admiral Lord West of Spithead - former First Sea Lord - said the carriers were the “least vulnerable” assets aside from nuclear submarines because they can move vast distances and could hide effectively by using false electronic transmissions to obscure opponent radar readings. He said if aircraft carriers were so weak, why is China, America and India desperately building up their carrier forces? A carrier strike group usually consists of two Type 45 destroyers for air defence, two Type 23 frigates for anti-submarine warfare, a submarine, a fleet tanker and support ship.

A Royal Navy spokeswoman responded to The Times and said the carriers are “among the very best in the world” and are protected by “cutting-edge” defence systems and capabilities. She said the navy always conduct “robust and rigorous” wargaming exercises to test people and assets in difficult environments - ensuring the force is fully prepared for all potential threats to keep the UK safe. “These are worst case fictitious scenarios that push our capabilities to the very limits — they are not forecast of what is most likely to happen,” she added.