The UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is a few weeks into its deployment to Japan and back, which is expected to last more than seven months and include a transiting of the South China Sea through areas claimed by China. The operation is considered to be an opportunity to show that post-Brexit Britain has entered a glorious new era of military strength so that it can be seen once again as a great power.
It is true that a naval deployment on this scale – the most powerful since the Falklands/Malvinas war nearly 40 years ago – will be a prominent opportunity to show off the huge carrier, its accompanying warships and their weapons.
This exercise will be welcomed by the arms corporations that have built and equipped the ships, and will be a valuable aid to the future commercial success of the relevant military-industrial complexes – even more so because the contingent is joined by US and Dutch warships, including F-35B aircraft.
