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Xinhua News Agency reported on February 12 that the British aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" was originally scheduled to depart from Portsmouth Port on the 11th to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's "Steadfast Defender 2024" large-scale military exercise. However, when a large number of people gathered in Portsmouth to see off the "Prince of Wales", they were told that it could not sail as scheduled.
Just a month ago, another British aircraft carrier, the "Queen Elizabeth" aircraft carrier, was unable to participate in the escort operation of the "Prosperity Alliance" organized by the United States in the Red Sea due to the problem of supply ships, and this time it was supposed to be the "Queen" to participate in the military exercise, but because of the routine inspection found that there was a problem with the propeller propulsion shaft, the "Prince" was on duty, but this time because of the problem of moths squatting in the port again, the two British aircraft carriers can not be dispatched, if Argentina suddenly attacks now, it is estimated that the Falklands will not be able to be saved!
A total of two British aircraft carriers are squatting in port: the problems brought out of the womb
As the originator of aircraft carriers, Britain can be described as a pioneer in the development of aircraft carrier technology, what beveled decks, arresters, catapults, etc. are all invented by the British, it stands to reason that Britain's aircraft carrier technology should be the top in the world, but the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier does not have the status it deserves, but there are all kinds of problems, almost a test product!
Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers: There are more problems
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier is the latest large aircraft carrier in the British Royal Navy. The lead ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth R08, was launched on 8 July 2014 and commissioned on 7 December 2017, while the second HMS Prince of Wales R09 was commissioned on 10 December 2019.
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier has a total length of 280 meters, a width of 70 meters, a draft of 11 meters, a standard auction capacity of 65,000 tons, a full load displacement of 70,600 tons, and uses 2 × Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines and 4 ×Wärtsilä 16V38 diesel engines, with a maximum speed of more than 25 knots and a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles.
The Queen-class aircraft carrier can be equipped with 30 F-35B/C fighters, and the aircraft carrier is expected to serve for 50 years, and in the future, the F-35 can be converted into a CATOBAR-type aircraft carrier to accommodate more advanced fighters in the future (this is the original design of the modification space, but the current Queen-class can no longer be changed).
The Queen-class aircraft carrier is worth mentioning a few, one is the Shuangzhan Island aircraft carrier, which is the only modern dual-ship island aircraft carrier, which can distinguish the functions of the ship island from the sea and the air, and can also reduce the difficulty of electromagnetic compatibility, but the problem is that the Shuangzhan Island will cause the deck area to decrease, and the turbulence between the ship islands will increase, increasing the difficulty of taking off and landing on the deck.
The other is that the aircraft carrier uses a gas turbine as power, compared with the steam boiler + steam turbine, the volume is much smaller, and the preparation and departure time is greatly shortened, compared with nuclear power, the system is much simpler, the disadvantage is that the endurance is a little less, but 10,000 nautical miles is about the same, with the supply ship, it can also be regarded as "global deployment".
The other is the all-electric propulsion design of the aircraft carrier, simply put, the engine does not directly drive the propeller, but through the generator, and then through the ship's substation line to the drive motor converted into mechanical energy to propel the aircraft carrier, all-electric can easily integrate the power of the whole ship at various different speeds, and then through the transmission line to transmit the various areas that need power. This is how the Queen-class aircraft carrier integrated gas turbines and diesel engines, and was the first aircraft carrier to use all-electric propulsion.
The design of the Queen-class is quite advanced, but surprisingly there are quite a lot of problems, the first is that the maximum speed of the design is only 25 knots, although the propulsion power requirements are reduced, but the aircraft carrier has a speed of only 25 knots, and it can't even follow the destroyer, and the other is this giant aircraft carrier, and the self-defense anti-aircraft weapon is only 20 mm Phalanx close defense gun, which is really a bit shabby.
There is also the problem of the aircraft carrier after it was put into service, which first appeared on December 18, 2017 (when it was not yet in service), when it was rumored that the Queen Elizabeth had a defective shaft seal and seawater leakage, with more than 200 liters of water per hour. The Royal Navy confirmed on 17 December that problems with the Queen Elizabeth's shaft seals had been identified during sea trials, and that repairs were being carried out during the Queen Elizabeth's dock after arriving at Portsmouth Naval Base.
On August 29, 2022, the USS Prince went to the United States to participate in joint exercises, but was forced to suspend the ship in the waters near the Isle of Wight due to damage to the starboard propeller. After an initial assessment, one propeller on the port side had to be used to return at low speed to Portsmouth Naval Base at 5 p.m. on the same day for repairs.
On February 4, 2024, the "Queen" aircraft carrier found that there was a problem with the propeller propulsion shaft again when preparing to participate in the routine inspection before the 2024 NATO military exercise, and had to let the "Prince" aircraft carrier participate in the NATO military exercise on its behalf, but what is unexpected is that the "Prince" aircraft carrier has a moth problem and set off on an appointment, these two aircraft carriers are of the same level, the design and manufacturing are all copy and paste, one has design problems, and the other will have problems, but it will appear at the same time in time, which is a bit embarrassing!
It finally happened
A hundred years ago, the British Imperial Navy was so majestic, Britain was also the pioneer of aircraft carriers, British aircraft carriers were very unique and important in history, a large number of aircraft carriers on the professional technology and equipment were invented by the British, but now not only only 2 aircraft carriers, but also become the foil and follower of the US military, it is really embarrassing!
If Argentina strikes now, the Falklands won't be saved! But it's a pity that there is no if
Now that Britain's two aircraft carriers are squatting in port, some netizens joked that if Argentina suddenly attacks now, it is estimated that Britain's Falklands will not be able to be saved! The answer is inevitable, Britain has really reached a stormy moment, and domestic problems emerge one after another, the most serious of which are Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the Northern Ireland problem may erupt in the next ten years, and the Scottish problem may also erupt, and at that time it may not even be able to protect the British Isles
Northern Ireland: Britain's ticking time bomb
On February 3, Sinn Féin vice president O'Neill was elected chief minister of Northern Ireland, that is, the de facto leader of Northern Ireland, O'Neill, who was born in the Irish Republican Army family, said in an interview with British media that a referendum on the reunification of Northern Ireland and Ireland is expected in the next ten years.
In the middle of the 19th century, there was a potato harvest crisis in Ireland, when the British government not only did not provide relief, but forcibly transported a large amount of grain and livestock back to Britain, resulting in 1 million of the 7 million Irish people dying of starvation.
In the end, the Irish revolt succeeded, and the 26 counties in the south of Ireland became the Republic of Ireland independently, but the 6 counties in the north were still in the hands of the British, which is now Northern Ireland, but the Northern Irish have been engaged in an independence movement to prepare for reunification with Ireland, which is the most headache for the British Northern Ireland problem.
In order to achieve this goal, the IRA assassinations, explosions and bombings in an endless stream, caused a large number of terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom to force the British government to agree to the terms of independence, the British government and Northern Ireland conducted many negotiations, and finally reached the "Belfast Agreement" of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland belongs to the United Kingdom, and the IRA renounces armed struggle.
But the British government made a Brexit, Northern Ireland was unwilling to leave, and the helpless British government made the British mainland an independent customs territory, and Northern Ireland applied EU rules. The EU agreed, Ireland agreed, but in the end the British government disagreed, because "the country will not be a country", which in turn aroused the heart of the Northern Ireland to always be independent, because according to the Belfast Agreement, if the majority of people clearly want Northern Ireland to secede from the United Kingdom, the British and Irish governments should organize a referendum.
Now Sinn Féin vice president O'Neill has been elected as the chief minister of Northern Ireland, this thing is likely to happen in the next ten years, with the strength of Sinn Féin, if Northern Ireland is not "independent" this time, it is estimated that all kinds of bombings and terrorist attacks will come back, can the British government stop it?
In addition to Northern Ireland and the Scottish problem, England and Scotland were originally two countries in history, Queen Elizabeth I of England was unmarried in her life, and no one inherited the throne after her death, on March 25, 1603, James VI of Scotland entered England to inherit the unification, because Queen Elizabeth had concluded a co-confederation with James VI when she was alive, so after the death of Queen Elizabeth, James VI unified Scotland and England into the United Kingdom.
But the relationship between the "two countries" is not very close, and there is no problem in making do with it in the prosperous days, but when the British economy is declining, the differences are getting more and more serious, Scotland sits on a large area of economic waters in the North Sea and the Atlantic, oil resources in the North Sea, fishery resources in the Atlantic, and mineral resources, etc., and subsidize Britain with the Scottish Economic Zone, and the Scots do not agree!
In 2019, the Scottish National Party won a landslide victory in the British general election, SNP won 48 seats, and intends to promote a second referendum on "independence".
God help the UK: Argentina is worse
In the 1982 Anglo-Argentine Falklands War, the British task force composed of two aircraft carriers won the Battle of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, and Argentina ordered 15 super-flag fighters and 15 Exocet missiles from the French government, but France withheld the follow-up missiles after delivering 5 of them.
The Argentine Air Force used these 5 missiles to sink a destroyer USS Westfield and an aircraft carrier converted from the Atlantic Transporter Ro-Ro ship, and if all 15 of them arrive, it is estimated that they can sink the British aircraft carrier, and the Battle of the Falklands may not be lost at that time, and the Malvinas Islands are still in the hands of Argentina.
Therefore, Argentina was unconvinced of the loss and always wanted to find a place in the Falklands, but the Argentine government was in turmoil, and the Argentine military junta President Galtieri, who lost the Falklands War, was forced to resign, and the Argentine military government collapsed the following year. After the civil turmoil in Argentina, in 1989 Menem was elected president of Argentina, in order to prevent the military junta from being restored again, the Menem government reduced the army and armaments on a large scale, the navy's aircraft carriers and destroyers were retired and delisted, and the air force's super flag and other fighters were also grounded due to lack of spare parts.
Since the end of the 1990s, the Argentine Air Force has been hoping to buy military aircraft to restore the majesty of the Argentine Air Force, but many efforts have finally been disrupted by the British government, and the purchase over the years has been unsuccessful, in 2021, the Argentine Air Force tendered for Gou Kai light fighters, China's JF-17, India's LCA and Russia's MiG-35 and F-16 have a showdown, and everyone said that the JF-17 has a great chance of winning the bid, because the JF-17 is the most cost-effective, and it will not be affected by the United Kingdom, the result is a big surprise, the F-16 won the bid, this Argentina is really looking for death, and the Falklands do not intend to take it back.
On November 19, 2023, Javier Milei (Javier Milei) was elected as the new president of Argentina with 55.69% of the vote, and this madman-like guy proposed inexplicable policies, such as abolishing the central bank, abolishing the peso, using the dollar and anti-China, freezing cooperation between the two countries, withdrawing from the Belt and Road cooperation and withdrawing from Mercosur, etc., all of which can earn foreign exchange for the Argentine government have been terminated.
Therefore, at this most suitable moment, Argentina watched Britain drop its chain and could not take the Falklands in one go because of its own martial arts.