Originally Posted by
MSOCS
HMS Queen Elizabeth Takes To The Seas
"She's a mobile, four and a half acre AIRFIELD...." 0:35
Which is exactly what she is. "She isn't just a ship" by any means...far from it. QEC will project AIR POWER from the sea for decades to come. However, if you wish to promote her bite, please remember that her teeth are the embarked air and RM assets. The ship's raison d'être is to get the embarked "teeth" arms where they need to be to achieve the broader mission. It isn't a Dreadnought. It's a mobile, four and a half acre AIRFIELD, as the good Cdre clearly states.
Thank you but let's see what he said in entirety.
"This is a very flexible sea base. To see her as just a ship, perhaps, is a bit simplistic. She's [also] a mobile four-and-a-half acre airfield able to do a whole range of operations from her. So I think what this means for UK defence is she'll be deployed around the world, she'll be a very flexible asset and she'll host a whole bunch of capabilities from all three services into the future. Very exciting times ahead."
So he regards QNLZ primarily as a ship. He doesn't seem to be conceding that she is just a "floating airfield" nor, indeed, "just a ship". She'll be equally capable of performing defence diplomatic missions, such as disaster relief or conducting goodwill visits, as launching a strike package against an inland target.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree. From your caustic remarks about the conduct of air operations from a CVS, am I safe in assuming that you did not take comfortably to being embarked under the white ensign?
