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Lord Alan West, former British Admiral and Labour peer, has heaped praise on the UK’s two new aircraft carriers, claiming that the US currently feels a touch of jealousy toward the Royal Navy.
“It is massive […], they are incredible, the Americans are very jealous of it and it means we are able to reduce the manpower quite dramatically”, he argued.
Lord West recalled that in an US aircraft carrier, “the weapon managing facilities takes 300 men, [while] in our ships it is something like 30 men”.
“The US is very envious of what we have got. They are also around half the cost of American ships – they are amazing ships and we should be incredibly proud of our vessels”, he added, in an apparent reference to the British aircraft carriers Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth.
The remarks come after HMS Prince of Wales arrived at the River Mersey in Liverpool on Friday, and is reportedly expected “to attract thousands of visitors while berthed at Liverpool's cruise terminal”.
The Royal Navy said earlier that day that the Prince of Wales is “at the heart of the fleet as one of the most powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK” and that “along with her sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth, they are the largest ships ever built” for the country’s navy.
The 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier’s light deck is 70 metres wide and 280 metres long, which means that it has enough space for at least three football pitches.
The vessel, which is set to leave Liverpool on 6 March, is reportedly capable of carrying up to 40 stealth jet fighters and helicopters used for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare.
Last year, HMS Queen Elizabeth Captain Steve Moorhouse admitted that the UK Royal Navy’s flagship is suffering weekly floods which he claimed are “part of the business”.
Earlier, it was revealed that the UK’s most powerful aircraft faces a raft of problems, including a shaft seal leak and an accidental trigger of the boat’s sprinkler system whilst in a hangar.