This is what I cannot understand: if a warlord with no industrial capacity can "threaten" British aircraft carriers. So how does the UK expect this aircraft carrier to "patrol" one of the world's largest flashpoints? "Deter" an industrial nation that launches an entire British fleet in five years?Fears of Houthi strike against British aircraft carrier
HMS Prince of Wales will pass through a Red Sea chokepoint on the way to the Far East and the MoD fears it may be attacked with missiles and kamikaze drones
Military planners fear that HMS Prince of Wales could be attacked by Houthi rebels when it passes through the Red Sea this year adding to concerns in Whitehall that Britain’s large aircraft carriers have become “obsolete” in an era of missile and drone strikes.
The 280m warship will sail through the Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint where there have been Houthi attacks on British and US vessels, on its journey to the Far East. The carrier will lead a fleet to the area to conduct drills with Australia and Japan — a deployment that is likely to meet angry condemnation from China.
The carrier suffered an embarrassing setback when its starboard propeller stopped working one day into its inaugural voyage to the US in 2022. After undergoing an estimated £25 million worth of , it is expected to leave Portsmouth this spring.
There is nervousness in the Ministry of Defence, however, that before it reaches its destination the £3.5 billion flagship could be attacked with Iranian anti-ship ballistic missiles and kamikaze drone boats by Houthi rebels, particularly if the ceasefire in Gaza collapses, The Times has been told.
They bank on China not actually attacking, so essentially an exercise in image only.