In July the world saw the debut of two powerful new classes of aircraft carriers, the US Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford and the UK Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth. Both carriers push the boundaries of modern engineering and represent the first new carrier designs in decades.

But they join oceans already teeming with aircraft carriers and navy ships with helicopter decks. Both the US and UK have vital interests at sea and in ensuring freedom of navigation as they ready new carriers to secure those goals.

 

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Featured image courtesy of the British Royal Navy