The UK Royal Navy's HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier is expected to take part in joint exercises with Australia and Japan this year, and the ship's route is to pass through the Red Sea, including the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In light of recent developments, the UK Ministry of Defense now fears that the Yemeni Houthis could launch an attack on the ship, The Times reports citing its sources.
First of all, they say the ministry is generally concerned about the vulnerability of large vessels. For example, they note how easily such ships can become victims of missiles and drones, recalling how in 2022 the Ukrainian Defence Forces sank the russian Moskva missile cruiser with two Neptune anti-ship missiles. Another modern threat is the kamikaze boats, which have found equally impressive success so far in the Ukraine-russia war.
Read more: Lockheed Martin Drops Out of Sixth-Gen Naval Fighter Development to Replace the F/A-18
Unlike the russian cruiser, the British aircraft carrier won't be on its lonesome. When the HMS Prince of Wales passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it will be accompanied by a Type 4 destroyer, a frigate of the Norwegian Navy, as well as auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy. Ready on board the Prince will be fifth-generation F-35B aircraft, and, as noted, it will also receive additional allied aircraft.
In fact, concerns about the vulnerability of the aircraft carrier to cheap Houthi missiles have sparked discussions about finding new tactics and roles for these ships, in particular, the prospects of converting them into "drone carriers."
For example, in 2023, the UK Royal Navy progressed its Project Mojave to the testing stage, and later in the fall of the same year successfully launched a Mojave drone from aboard the HMS Prince of Wales, in cooperation with its manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI). Incidentally, this became the first time an unmanned aerial vehicle took off from an aircraft carrier that does not belong to the U.S. Navy.
Read more: New russian Drone is Suspiciously Similar to Shahed-101 Used By Houthis, Hezbollah: What's Known About This UAV
