Following studies concerning the cancellation of a touchdown support for the SRVL approach on HMS Queen Elizabeth, a Govt minister has clarified that, although timelines have shifted, rolling landings are nonetheless deliberate.
In early November, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) launched its 2024/2025 Annual Report and Accounts. Among the many 256 pages, one desk lists all the particular person losses valued at over £300,000 made via the yr. Included is the tragic lack of a Merlin HC4 in September 2024, ensuing within the loss of life of a Royal Navy pilot, in addition to the writing off of a Litening focusing on pod which indifferent from a Storm mid-flight over East Yorkshire in January 2025.
Varied retirements of capabilities are listed as constructive losses – specifically the withdrawal of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, the deliberate retirement of the Watchkeeper UAV, and the depletion of the British Military’s AS90 fleet of self-propelled weapons which have now been despatched to Ukraine. A lot of objects are referred to solely by their mission names – Undertaking RARDEN, for instance, oversaw ongoing help for the 30mm RARDEN cannon, and has now been wound down as a result of withdrawal of the Scimitar armored automobile which carried it. Some tasks, like Undertaking B STAR (valued at £3.8m), stay undefined and the Authorities declined to disclose any additional data.
Concluding the listing of constructive losses is the merchandise “Rolling Vertical Touchdown improve cancellation”, representing a loss to the MoD of simply over £300,000 – simply sufficient to qualify to even be listed. This line rapidly sparked panic. At first look, the plain conclusion can be that the MoD had scrapped certainly one of its flagship plane service capabilities – a hybrid vertical/typical service touchdown approach, known as Shipborne Rolling Vertical Touchdown (SRVL), tailor-made for the F-35B, permitting a return to the ship with a a lot greater payload than a vertical touchdown would allow.
An F-35B from the Built-in Check Drive carried out the primary SRVL on HMS Queen Elizabeth in October 2018, although at this stage this was nonetheless an indication as a proof of idea. In service, the 2 Queen Elizabeth class carriers can be fitted with a specifically designed touchdown support system known as the Bedford Array. The Royal Navy’s second plane service, HMS Prince of Wales, was delivered with its Bedford Array put in, nevertheless HMS Queen Elizabeth was as a substitute attributable to obtain the system throughout a refit that’s at present in progress. It was rapidly deduced that the £300,000 loss meant this set up would seemingly not go forward as deliberate.
Mainstream information shops picked up the story rapidly, main with the declare that British F-35s would now must dump their weapons earlier than returning to their plane service. Inside days, a written query was submitted to the MoD by the official opposition’s Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, James Cartlidge MP. Because of the variety of questions submitted to every Authorities minister each day, it isn’t uncommon to attend various weeks for a response. This response was lastly forthcoming on Nov. 25, the place defence minister Luke Pollard MP instantly clarified “Shipborne Rolling Vertical Touchdown (SRVL) for the UK’s F-35B Lightning plane to Queen Elizabeth Class carriers has not been cancelled”.
Pollard, responding on behalf of the MoD, stated that the supply of SRVL “has been re-profiled as a Defence Alternative in order that becoming the aptitude aligns with the introduction of a associated advanced weapons programme” and that this modification “will not be anticipated to have an antagonistic impression on general Provider Strike or F-35B functionality”.
Successfully, which means the Bedford Array – or a subsequent improvement of it – continues to be deliberate to finally make its method to HMS Queen Elizabeth, however the set up has been delayed. This would possibly appear to be a transparent instance of price chopping on the expense of functionality, nevertheless it needs to be famous that the UK’s service strike idea is at present in a state of speedy change. Newly appointed First Sea Lord Common Sir Gwyn Jenkins has stated outright that he want to see unmanned collaborative fight plane (CCAs) deployed from the plane carriers through the subsequent deliberate deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2029. He additionally revealed plans for a prototype CCA to be launched from one of many carriers by the top of 2026.
The Royal Navy has made their opening foray right into a hybrid Provider air wing (hybrid which means a mixture of crewed and un-crewed platforms). Undertaking VANQUISH seeks a technical demonstrator by the top of 2026. That is an evolution of the earlier and extra bold Undertaking VIXEN👇 🧵1/5 pic.twitter.com/1c2jcwNUHc
— Greg Bagwell (@gregbagwell) October 5, 2025
Past the Headlines
Regardless of the catchy headlines, F-35Bs can nonetheless return to the Queen Elizabeth carriers utilizing conventional vertical landings whereas carrying a reasonably sizable payload. Throughout improvement, a requirement was set for the F-35B to have the ability to safely return to a ship and land vertically whereas nonetheless carrying a mixed weapons and gas load of as much as 5,000 lbs. This determine is the limitation that have to be adhered to by the U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35Bs, which function from ships not designed for secure SRVL operations. Moreover, as a result of lack of a ski-jump ramp, U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs are restricted to a decrease launch payload than F-35Bs launching from the Queen Elizabeth class.
Although, understandably, a a lot criticized truth concerning the present capabilities of the UK’s F-35 fleet, the bigger, heavier, and costly strike weapons that SRVL was primarily envisioned to make sure may very well be returned safely to the ship if mandatory should not presently operational.
As an alternative, the UK’s F-35s carry simply the Paveway IV guided bomb – primarily based on the five hundred lb Mark 82 spherical – for air to floor strike. Opposite to a broadly shared social media publish made by Ben Overweight-Jecty MP, a member of the opposition, the F-35Bs are capable of carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM radar guided missile and due to this fact don’t lack a past visible vary (BVR) anti-air functionality. Sooner or later, the AMRAAM is meant to be supplanted by the MBDA Meteor. The UK makes use of AIM-132 ASRAAM infrared guided missiles rather than the extra ubiquitous AIM-9 Sidewinder – each of those weapons are carried externally on the F-35.
Putting in the Bedford Array now, whereas the longer term configuration and air wing of the Queen Elizabeth class is a matter of debate, might imply that additional down the road much more cash have to be spent on eradicating the system and changing it with a special one. Alternatively, relying on how rapidly CCAs are developed into frontline, operational platforms, the requirement for the UK’s F-35Bs to launch from the carriers with big payloads would possibly develop into a lot rarer. As an alternative, these extra weapons may very well be carried by unmanned ‘loyal wingmen’.
