Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of retrofitting Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers with (a) catapults, (b) additional angled decks and (c) arresting wires.

The Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers (QEC) were built to allow for capability changes over the lifetime of these ships. The Royal Navy is committed to developing capabilities that will allow it to build combat mass, whilst remaining at the forefront of technology, and this includes a strong focus on uncrewed air systems. As such, the aviation capabilities of the QEC aircraft carriers will continue to evolve in the coming years and the operation of a wider variety of aircraft is being considered as part of a detailed analysis to scope and assess options. The launch and recovery systems for these new capabilities is currently under review, following the recent successful trials of Mojave and Windracer.