Above you see a drawing of the "proposed" HMS Queen Elizabeth class that was canceled. Note that it came in at around 60,000 tons, was to carry 24 Phantom fighters, 12 Buccaneers and presumably at least a couple or 6 helicopters for various duties (including plane guard).
Fast forward to today and what do we have the British Ministry of Defense planning for their flagship in terms of aircraft? 12. A grand total of 12 fighters.
Say that out loud and see if it makes sense to you. 12 fighters on a 60,000 ton aircraft carrier. What a waste of a fabulous capability.
