My post crossed with Nutty's. I am not sure that "not expected to be operated simultaneously" is the official view. SDSR 2015 said "Both
Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier
s will be brought into service and fully crewed, one of which will be modified to better support amphibious operations and one carrier to be available at all times." OK, things have moved on and we await SDSR 20/21 and the influence of Cyber Cummings. My understanding is that SDSR 2015 meant at least one i.e. both will never be in refit / mainrtenance at the same time. Given personnel shortages in would be mad to have a crew of 700 twiddling their thumbs, as regards operations, on a carrier "in readiness" Though, personally, I would have thought it was likely that, given the planned F-35 buy, the "modified" one will operate more as an LPH when both are active. The First Sea Lord was talking up a global navy and forward presence last year,
The FSL’s Five priorities from his speech at DSEI 11SEP2019
Firstly, the North Atlantic. This is key to ensuring the freedom of movement of the nuclear deterrent, but it is an area where we are facing increasing pressure, especially from Russia.
…
This whole approach seeks to change ASW from delivery by individual platforms, to a battlespace of networked sensors.
My second priority is Carrier Strike. We are enormously grateful for the investment by successive governments and the nation. My task now is to deliver on this, increase and magnify the value of that investment. We need to shift the whole Navy to being a Carrier Task Group Navy. This will allow us to project our power around the world.
My third priority is the Future Commando Force. We will build on the amazing cachet and specialness of our Royal Marine Commandos, blending them with technology to have 5th Generation Commando Warriors.
My fourth priority is Forward Presence. This is about being able to demonstrate a Global Navy, project influence and respond to threats more quickly. We have already seen the success of forward basing in Bahrain.
Now I want to have a conversation about whether we could deploy more ships, permanently stationed forward in areas where we have significant interests. This is a real manifestation of Global Britain.
And finally, we have to embrace Technology and Innovation in a much bigger way. We are doing some great things across the Service. But it has to be stronger, bolder and much more impactful.