Britain set to confront China with new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

We kind of all new this was coming but I think it deserves a thread also. Things are really starting to heat up.

Her maiden voyage will be early next year apparently but I think this may be hastened forward if things start to heat up rapidly. she is fully operational already and only needs more aircraft delivered I believe.

Britain set to confront China with new aircraft carrier

Military chiefs have drawn up plans to base one of Britain’s new aircraft carriers in the Far East to play a part in countering an increasingly assertive China, The Times can reveal.

www.thetimes.co.uk...

a reply to: Smarties

Six months from now?
The shooting won't last that long...

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Smarties

Six months from now?
The shooting won't last that long...

Yeah I think this is a message to China, but she is operational now so if she leaves port sooner then we know its on.

a reply to: Smarties

I’m curious how many submarines are in the area.
No way to know of course but that’s what will tear up the Chinese surface fleet.
That and with air launched anti ship missiles flying around I wouldn’t want to be in the battle zone.

I don't think china is intimidated by many countries, GB probably doesn't make the list...


a reply to: Smarties

I agree with a show of force, but it should be tied to some hefty sanctions. They also need to be coordinated with all of our allies for maximum effect. Cut off trade completely and ban their citizens for a specific amount of time to prevent all the espionage and infiltration into our educational systems and whatever else they’re doing to destroy our countries. I know that’s probably way over the top, but something dramatic needs to happen to put China in check.

a reply to: Smarties

Me thinks you are underestimating China.
If the USA backs them then ya. But if not then they are screwed.
Also China has many subs. It only one good hit to take down any ship. Hence the whole strike group.
Yet even then they are stalked constantly.
China is not worried about this in any way dude.

Our aircraft carrier will surely be useful with no aircraft and escorts that can’t engage surface targets & would struggle against submarines and aircraft.

The once mighty Royal Navy has become a joke. At least it can still beat Argentina, though largely thanks to the fact their navy sank in port due to lack of maintainence

A depressing state of affairs really.

a reply to: Ohanka

What is the basis for saying "The once mighty Royal Navy has become a joke"?

Is there one?

a reply to: Doxanoxa

It’s ever decreasing capabilities.

For example an aircraft carrier with no currently operable combat aircraft is a massive glaring flaw in the government’s defence strategy, whatever that is.

We can't even police our own waters.

The carrier was here earlier in the year and I missed the opportunity to tour it, although I did get to grab a few snaps of it. It does look impressive until you realise it's like fighting a grizzly bear with a toothpick.

originally posted by: Smarties
Things are really starting to heat up.

Not really. This voyage to assert the freedom to navigate international waters has been discussed for ages.

The UK, along with many other nations, regularly transits the international waters in the South China Sea. For example, HMS Sutherland and HMS Albion have done so in the last couple of years, with much ranting and raving from the Chinese. But they can rant and rave as much as they like because these are international waters.

The belligerent Chinese ludicrous claim to the South China Sea impacts a number of nations. The militarisation of the South China Sea (at huge environmental cost by creating artificial islands), should not deflect from the fact that the Chinese actions are illegal and have been universally criticised and condemned.

The Chinese need to cool things down by recognising that their actions to date have been obnoxious and antagonistic.

"Confront".

Very clever term used by the media to skew a story and add fear factor.

The article title is exaggerated to generate clicks. The chances of the UK 'confronting' China alone is zero. We don't have the capability to do so and never will again.

The point is an indication to allies in the region we will play our part collectively in regional stability.

a reply to: Smarties

She will likely serve as both an emblem of our interests and to reassure our allies in the region that we still have there back's and will still help them if it come's down to it (which is essential to our economic interests and alliances as well, we have to protect the commonwealth after all or what use are we) and also as a handy vessel for the US our allies whom will also make use of her, she is not as big as the US air craft carriers but has many useful trait's our allies over the pond will certainly make use of and is large enough for a good base of operation's, couple her with the royal navy nuclear ballistic and attack submarines that will also be in the region and the destroyers we will also deploy to protect her then you have a formidably force indeed.

And when she is fully outfitted she will actually be one of the most powerful ship's in the world, our destroyers alone are more than a match for the entire Chinese navy and they are mostly aging so I really think China getting too big for there boot's and bullying other nations out of there own greed, well it's time they were brought down a peg or two, maybe someone should sink that aging refitted Russian air craft carrier they have and there NEWER copies of that aging Russian design.

China is acting like an international criminal state at the moment, they think they are large enough to over rule international law but if there is anything they should learn from history no nation is large enough to do that and get away with it even if we did allow them to get away with the invasion and ethnic cleansing of Tibet they enacted, we only did so because we were already withdrawing from the region at that time else had we still held interests in that region it would have been a completely different story.

What do you expect from a nation that massacred thousands of it's own student's for calling for democracy and then covered it up so completely that most Chinese today only even though it only happened in 1989 know nothing of the event, they don't even know of the iconic Tank Man a young student whom stood unarmed before a Chinese army tank.
en.wikipedia.org...

While our own government's DO have there fair share of corruption compared to the the Chinese they look like nice kid's on the global block, the Chinese communist government is actually one of the most corrupt organizations and governments in the world, perhaps even THE most corrupt, in all governments though there are good and bad people and likewise there's is no exception but over all there system is even dirtier than the soviet was and far more corrupt but also more clever in the way they have clung onto power, there is absolutely nothing to admire about them though other than there ability to martial huge army's of workers to build city's that then don't even have population's - but then didn't Hitler do the same in 1930's Germany with huge autobahn construction and re-industrialization program's for pretty much the same purpose - to keep the workers happy so they would not then revolt against him and look how evil he was.

a reply to: Bluntone22

If 20 anti-ship missals are fired simultaneously, only 1 has to find it's target.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Quite a few subs I think. the water between Taiwan and China in the straight is only 60 meters deep I think so I understand subs stay away from that bit of the sea.

originally posted by: justwokeup
The article title is exaggerated to generate clicks. The chances of the UK 'confronting' China alone is zero. We don't have the capability to do so and never will again.

The point is an indication to allies in the region we will play our part collectively in regional stability.

We will never go to war alone unless we have to like in the Falklands. As for China we are there for our allies not to go to war. To confront the bullying of China in the region.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

Also China has many subs. It only one good hit to take down any ship. Hence the whole strike group.

Curious why you think that?

Everything I Have read says carriers alone are very hard to sink, the one time the US sank one of their own it was very hard.