Royal Navy: Aircraft Carriers Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Royal Navy: Aircraft Carriers

Lord Soames of Fletching Excerpts
Monday 12th February 2024

(9 months, 2 weeks ago)

Lords Chamber
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Earl of Minto Portrait The Earl of Minto (Con)
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My Lords, from what I know about that, I agree entirely with what the noble and gallant Lord has just said.

Lord Soames of Fletching Portrait Lord Soames of Fletching (Con)
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Would my noble friend the Minister agree with me that, disappointingly, these aircraft carriers, which are in any event extremely vulnerable in the theatre of operations, also appear to be unreliable? Will he confirm to the House that there will have sailed with the aircraft carrier an added complement to her crew from the civilian engineers responsible for these problems?

Earl of Minto Portrait The Earl of Minto (Con)
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My Lords, my understanding is that that is the case. Clearly, these matters are looked at seriously throughout these exercises, and obviously one hopes that the reliability of these extremely complicated pieces of equipment improves.