Ark Royal is scheduled to take part in Exercise Auriga 2010 over in the U.S. and was conducting a preliminary exercise off N.W. Scotland when she was recalled for the cancelled mission to assist with ferrying Britons home from the continent. She is presently the RN flagship and strike carrier. Her sistership Illustrious has commenced an eighteen month refit at Rosyth.
The third ship of the class, HMS Invincible, has been mothballed since 2005 and is most unlikely to see service again with the Royal Navy. A decision as to her future is to be taken this year. Her Sea Harriers shot down 21 Argentinean aircraft in the Falklands conflict.
Illustrious and Ark Royal are intended to remain in service until 2014 and 2016 respectively, when the new aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales are theoretically due to be completed. The Royal Navy has sacrificed numerous vessels over the last few years in order to fund the new carriers. After many delays, the Queen Elizabeth is finally under construction in sections at several shipyards around the UK with final assembly at Rosyth.
There now seems every possibility that they will be cancelled. The total cost of the programme is £20 billion of which far and away the lions share is the F35 aircraft to fly from them. In the present economic climate, something has to give in the Defence budget and the carriers seem the likeliest option.
Labour and the LibDems have stated that they are committed to the carriers, without explaining where the money is to come from. Liam Fox, the Conservative shadow defence minister, has stated that he will be examining break clauses in the building contracts immediately on taking power, if the Tories form the next government, and will take a decision after the Defence Review which is due to be conducted after the election.
All the steel and a vast amount of equipment has already been ordered and one would think that the project is too far advanced for at least one carrier not to be constructed. There is also a theory that the second might be constructed and sold to India. Time will tell. The French Navy was also considering participating in the programme and building one of the class for themselves, decision shelved until 2011 as they are similarly short of funds.
This is what they will look like if they ever come to fruition.