How sovereign will the UK’s carriers be?
The eight acres of mobile territory that the UK Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth class carriers will provide have been broadly welcomed, although how truly sovereign its deck-space will be remains open to debate.
At the most basic level the carriers will be part of the UK’s armed forces, able to respond to the needs and demands of its standing government. However, a reduction in asset numbers endured by the RN will see the vessels often operating within US and other NATO task forces.
There is the prospect as well - not altogether unwelcome - that US Marine Corps F-35Bs
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