Britain’s recently built multi-billion pound aircraft carriers may already be out of date, with military sources revealing that the carries get sunk ‘in most war games’.

At present, the Royal Navy boasts two £6.2 billion aircraft carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales, which were only commissioned into service in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

However, given the constant advancements in weapon technology, the ships may now be too susceptible to modern missiles to prove effective in wartime operation.

A source familiar with the Royal Navy’s war games has admitted that ‘the carriers get sunk’ on most occasions, according to the Telegraph.

Missile technology in particular is accelerating at a pace which now sees it capable of locating and tracking Britain’s naval fleet.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, said that Beijing has been making rapid developments in its anti-ship missile arsenal.

In addition to this, Chinese authorities are also reportedly in the process of developing long-range ‘over the horizon’ radars which can be used to identify hostile ships at great distances.

China’s latest hypersonic glide vehicle, the DF-17, is also cause for concern for Royal Navy strategists, with the ultra-modern craft capable of evading missile defence systems and possessing an fearsome range and level of manoeuvrability.

During these aforementioned war games, the Royal Navy’s ‘ability to survive’ is ‘stretched to the limit’, with a scenario eventually arising whereby a carrier would be sunk.

In July of this year, the new Labour government launched a widespread defence review, with ministers and military bosses under intense scrutiny to come up with billions of pounds worth of savings.

One line of interest explored as part of this review has been the consideration as to whether or not the Navy’s aircraft carries are necessary for modern warfare scenarios.

The Telegraph has reported that in one recent meeting between the Ministry of Defence and Treasury officials, the possibility of decommissioning at least one of the Navy’s carriers was explored, as departments look to remedy ongoing financial problems.

However, Royal Navy officials balked at the suggestion from Conservative ministers, with Navy bosses insistent that there would be no noticeable savings gained by scrapping a carrier.

Concerns over the effectiveness of modern carriers became heightened back in 2022, when Ukrainian military personnel succeeded in sinking the Russian Moskva cruiser with anti-ship missiles.

Comparatively with other major military powers, the US currently has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service. France have one, whilst the Chinese have three and are currently building a fourth.

Despite the suggestions that one of the UK fleet could be axed, the military source was confident that this would not come to pass given the government’s NATO responsibilities.

The Royal Navy’s current commitment sees the requirement to have at least one carrier available for NATO duty at any one time.

Additionally, if a carrier were to be scrapped, it would potentially leave the UK without any carrier capabilities for months at a time when essential services need to be undertaken.

The growing sentiment around the ineffectiveness of aircraft carriers is not shared by everyone though, with former First Sea Lord, Lord West of Spithead, labelling carriers the ‘least vulnerable military assets’ after nuclear submarines.

‘If carriers are so useless, why are the Chinese, Americans and Indians desperately building up their carrier forces’, the Lord added.

One critical issue facing the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers though is the airforce’s struggling to afford new F-35 aircraft to place on the carriers.

Escort ships and support vessels which are essential for the carrier’s running are also a problem, with the Navy currently undergoing a manpower crisis.

One possible solution floated by Lord Lee of Trafford, a former defence minister, was for the carriers to adapt and begin to carry more drones as opposed to fighter jets, in a move which would see them become ‘hybrid carriers’.

Responding to questions over the capabilities of their aircraft carriers, a Royal Navy spokesperson stated: ‘Our carriers are among the very best in the world and are protected by the latest cutting-edge defence systems and capabilities’.

The spokesperson went on to label wargaming as ‘fictitious’ and claim that they are not a ‘forecast’ of what is likely to happen during an operational scenario.