Capacity vs. Reality: Why The Royal Navy's Carriers Will Never Operate a Full F-35 Complement
The Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers were designed to hold a maximum of 36 F-35B jets but will likely never deploy with a full complement. This discrepancy is primarily due to budgetary constraints that have reduced the UK's total F-35B procurement order. The existing fleet of advanced fighters must be shared between the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. This shared pool, combined with ongoing maintenance and training requirements, means a typical operational deployment will feature only 12 to 24 aircraft. While a 'surge' capability exists for crisis situations, routine operations will see the carriers functioning well below their maximum designed fighter capacity.
Official Source: https://simpleflying.com/why-royal-navy-never-fill-aircraft-carriers-f-35s/
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