HMS Queen Elizabeth withdraws from largest NATO exercises since Cold War due to malfunction
The navy announced the issue with the aircraft carrier on Sunday. "During routine checks before the ship was due to set sail, we identified a problem with the coupling on the right drive shaft of HMS Queen Elizabeth. As a result, the ship will not be able to set sail on Sunday. Its NATO duties will be assumed by HMS Prince of Wales, which will set course for the Steadfast Defender exercises as soon as possible," stated Vice Admiral Fleet Andrew Burns.
With this turn of events, the British navy will temporarily be unable to dispatch an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea region, which hosts an ongoing American-British operation against Yemeni Houthi rebels.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales comprise the entirety of the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier fleet. Jim Heappey from the Ministry of Defence surfaced the potential deployment of an aircraft carrier earlier this week.
Yet another glitch in the British aircraft carrier
The HMS Queen Elizabeth's malfunction is another instance that questions the readiness of British armed forces in the preparation for potential future conflicts. In August 2022, the HMS Prince of Wales experienced a similar issue with its propulsion screw. The HMS Queen Elizabeth filled in during exercises off the North American coast.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence clarified on Sunday that the problem with HMS Queen Elizabeth is different and unrelated to the prior malfunction of its sister ship.
"The issue at hand concerns the ship's shaft coupling. The drive shafts of the ship are too large to be manufactured from a single piece of metal. Hence, they are built from three sections, which are interconnected using a shaft coupling," he elucidated.
The Steadfast Defender exercises, considered the largest NATO manoeuvres since the culmination of the Cold War, will involve over 40 ships from 24 nations in their maritime sector. During these exercises, a carrier strike group will participate in the annual Joint Warrior drills off the northeast coast of Scotland, eventually joining the Nordic Response exercises - the maritime segment of Steadfast Defender - scheduled for March along the Arctic coast of Norway.
