Carrying Britain's naval hopes, the £4bn superships
By
Matthew Hickley
Last updated at 10:51 PM on 20th May 2008
They will be the largest warships Britain has ever sent to sea, capable of projecting unprecedented firepower across the globe for the next 50 years.
Yesterday, the Government ended a decade of uncertainty over the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers, confirming plans to build the ships which they first promised in 1998.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will each weigh 65,000 tons and will be constructed in huge sections at yards across Britain before being assembled at Rosyth, Scotland.
They are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016 respectively - two years later than originally planned.
Each will carry 40 advanced Joint Strike Fighter stealth jump jets, and will transform Britain's ability to operate in hostile waters and hit targets thousands of miles from friendly territory.
They will dwarf the Navy's two ageing 'mini- carriers' which they will replace, and represent an ambitious return to full size-carrier operations, 30 years after Labour ministers scrapped the old HMS Ark Royal.
But the long-delayed ships will come with a combined £4billion price tag - with a new generation of aircraft costing at least another £10billion.
The financial commitment will put a massive strain on the defence budget.
Some senior Navy figures fear the rest of the fleet has been cut back so drastically since the end of the Cold War that it will struggle to find enough frigates, destroyers and submarines to protect the hugely valuable carriers if they ever put to sea against a capable enemy.
Announcing the green light for the project yesterday, Defence Secretary Des Browne said: 'The two aircraft carriers will provide our frontline forces with the modern, world class capabilities they will need.
'They will support peacekeeping and conflict prevention as well as our strategic operational priorities.'
But the contract must wait until a complex ship-building alliance is finalised between BAe Systems and VT Group along with a host of smaller contractors, which could take months.
The ships, to be based at Portsmouth, are expected to remain in service until 2060 and beyond.
Labour first pledged to build the carriers as part of the 1998 Strategic Defence Review.
But since then the project has been clouded by years of battles with the Treasury over funding.
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