The Royal Navy wants to equip the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier with catapults and drone air finishers

The British Royal Navy is actively working to mark up the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers with unmanned aerial vehicles. The ships will be equipped with catapults and air finishers.

Here's What We Know

The Royal Navy has two Queen Elizabeth class ships in service. They are HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. They were replacements for the Invincible-class aircraft carriers and were commissioned in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

During the construction phase, the service considered equipping the ships with air finishers and catapults, and also planned to procure fifth-generation F-35C deck fighters. However, this idea was abandoned because of its high cost.

As a result, Great Britain bought F-35B fighters with Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL). Along with them, helicopters can be deployed on Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Now the Royal Navy wants to switch from STOVL to Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL). The service intends to test General Atomics' American STOL drone Mojave in the near future.

After STOL, the Royal Navy will move to a Short Takeoff But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) configuration. The final stage will be Catapult Assisted Takeoff But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR).

Testing using the Mojave drone will take place in November this year. This has been confirmed by Colonel Phil Kelly. The Royal Navy has allocated £1.5m ($1.8m) for the tests, after which a decision on further investment will be made.

If all goes according to plan, Britain intends to equip Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers with air finishers and catapults for the use of large unmanned aerial vehicles and possibly manned fixed-wing aircraft. At present, long-range radar detection aircraft and air tankers cannot be deployed on aircraft carriers, which limits the offensive potential of strike groups.

Source: The War Zone