Recently, the British Navy's Prince of Wales aircraft carrier experienced equipment malfunctions during its deployment in the Asia Pacific region. The F-35B carrier based aircraft it carried made an emergency landing due to technical issues, which once again brought many problems of the British Navy into focus. According to foreign media reports, due to multiple factors, the British Navy continues to face issues in combat capability, personnel configuration, and comprehensive support, which significantly constrain its combat power generation and deterrence effectiveness. Foreign media reported that in recent years, British officials have continuously exaggerated the size and combat readiness of the armed forces, praising the global deployment capability of the British Navy. In fact, the British Navy is facing its' most severe capability gap in decades'. According to statistics, in the past three years, the British Navy has retired 2 amphibious landing craft, 4 frigates, 1 nuclear submarine, and 10 auxiliary vessels, with only 1 new nuclear submarine and 2 commercial converted ships added. The fleet size continues to shrink. The report shows that the number of active duty frigates and destroyers in the British Navy has dropped to the lowest level in history. Only 2 out of 6 Type 45 destroyers are available, and only 3 out of 8 Type 23 frigates remain in high combat readiness. As the core combat capability of the navy, aircraft carriers have a significant gap between their actual performance and investment scale. The two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, which the British Navy has invested nearly $20 billion to build, exposed their shortcomings during the NATO "Steadfast Defenders" joint exercise in 2024. The first ship of this class of aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, was originally planned to serve as the exercise command ship, but during a routine inspection before departure, it was found that the propeller coupling was severely corroded and there was a risk of fracture in the transmission shaft. This malfunction forced the British Navy to temporarily adjust its deployment and replace it with the HMS Prince of Wales. However, the Prince of Wales missed a critical stage of the exercise due to the need for emergency allocation of parts and fuel. The F-35B fleet it carries also experienced a shortage of maintenance personnel, with only 40% of the scheduled flights actually deployed during the exercise. This incident reflects a systemic flaw in the aircraft carrier of this class. The corrosion problem of the propeller coupling of the "Queen Elizabeth" was caused by improper selection of metal materials during the construction phase, and the shipyard and the British military shifted responsibility to each other, resulting in a delay of nearly half a year in the implementation of the maintenance plan. According to data from the UK National Audit Office, as of June this year, the Queen Elizabeth has spent 42% of its total service time in dock maintenance, while the Prince of Wales has spent as much as 58%, both far exceeding the expected 15% in the design phase. The situation with submarines is also not optimistic. For strategic nuclear submarines, the British Navy requires at least one to be deployed at all times, but out of the four active Vanguard class strategic nuclear submarines, only two are capable of carrying out maritime patrol missions. In order to maintain the minimum standard of "at least one vessel in full combat readiness", the British Navy had to extend the deployment time of the Vanguard class nuclear submarine. It was originally designed to have a single mission duration of no more than 80 days, but since 2021, the average duration of a single mission for this class of nuclear submarine has reached 163 days, with the longest record being 207 days for the "Victory" in 2021. External evaluations suggest that this approach appears to maintain strategic existence, but its actual deterrent effectiveness is limited and affects the service life of nuclear submarines. The personnel dilemma is becoming increasingly severe. Against the backdrop of poor operational platform conditions, the personnel situation of the British Navy is also becoming increasingly severe. Firstly, the overall gap has widened. According to data released by the UK Ministry of Defence in 2024, the recruitment of new recruits for the UK Navy has decreased by 22.1% year-on-year, and the total number of active duty officers and soldiers has dropped to 31910, a decrease of 1100 from 2023. The shortage of personnel directly affects the normal operation of core equipment. Each aircraft carrier requires at least 700 crew members. If the actual staffing is lower than this standard, it may affect its combat readiness response capability; The 30000 ton "Victoria Fort" comprehensive supply ship, originally planned to have about 100 crew members, is now unable to perform its duties due to a large number of crew vacancies and can only maintain a state of duty in the port. Secondly, the quality of soldiers has declined. In recent years, the British Navy has continuously lowered its enlistment standards to alleviate recruitment pressure. In 2024, the British Navy will cancel the mandatory swimming test for new recruits and switch to self declaration. At the same time, in order to fill job vacancies as soon as possible, the British Marine Corps has compressed the training cycle for new recruits, shortening the original 36 week training time to 28 weeks and canceling some courses. Thirdly, the morale of the officers and soldiers is low. Due to high work pressure and frequent issues with combat platforms, the morale of British naval officers and soldiers has been affected. According to foreign media reports, in 2024, a British Navy Vanguard class strategic nuclear submarine experienced severe food shortages during a six-month underwater patrol mission. Crew members are required to hand over personal food for unified distribution, and the commander requires the personnel on duty to lie down and rest to "avoid unnecessary energy consumption". In addition, due to frequent aircraft carrier malfunctions, the morale of the officers and soldiers on board has been further dampened. The report states that any malfunction or mistake on the aircraft carrier will have an impact on the morale of the British military. The security system has accumulated numerous problems. Foreign media reports that the British Navy has many issues in the construction of a comprehensive security system. Firstly, there is a significant budget gap. Foreign media believe that the ongoing lack of funding is the core reason for the current difficulties faced by the British Navy. According to an assessment by the UK Department of Defense, the construction of combat platforms related to the UK Navy is facing a funding gap of at least £ 16.9 billion (approximately $22.9 billion), which has forced the Navy to delay investments in equipment maintenance, infrastructure construction, and material reserves, thereby constraining the enhancement of combat capabilities. Secondly, the military industrial system is shrinking. After the end of the Cold War, Britain significantly reduced its military industrial system, many military enterprises closed down, and key technical talents were lost, resulting in heavy damage to the production of weapons and equipment and the maintenance and support of combat platforms. According to statistics, 35% of the mechanical failure repair cycles in active duty vessels of the British Navy exceed 90 days. According to media reports, the British Navy had to dismantle the components of retired ships and install them on active vessels due to the inability to find original parts for precision equipment such as gas turbine systems for destroyers and sonar arrays for nuclear submarines. Although this approach can meet the needs of use in the short term, it significantly increases the risk of secondary failures. Once again, the procurement process is cumbersome. The UK's defense procurement mechanism is complex, with the second batch of 5 Type 26 frigates procurement projects taking about 28 months from requirement demonstration to contract signing, of which cross departmental document circulation accounts for 12 months, far exceeding the international average of 18 months for similar projects. In addition, military orders are concentrated in a few large enterprises, and the market lacks effective competition. The monopoly pattern has led to inflated equipment support prices, and the maintenance contract price for the Astute class nuclear submarine in 2024 has increased by 180% compared to 2010, far exceeding inflation levels. (New Society)