Britain claims its aircraft carrier has successfully deterred China, but after the details were revealed, it sparked fierce criticism: Is this how fake news has reached such a level?
The 8-month Asia-Pacific deployment of the British "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier strike group finally came to an end amid doubts. Recently, the Royal Navy claimed that its fleet fuel supply ship "Spring Tide" conducted a "freedom of navigation" mission in the Nansha Islands and called it a "successful deterrence" against China.
However, when the details of this action were revealed, there was a great commotion in the UK. It turned out that this so-called "deterrence operation" was not carried out by the aircraft carrier itself, nor by a warship with combat capabilities such as a destroyer or frigate, but rather by a supply ship that lacked self-defense capabilities.
During this deployment of the "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier, two different F-35B jets encountered mechanical failures and made emergency landings at local airports near India and Japan, indicating obvious problems in the maintenance of the aircraft by the British Navy.
In addition, during the Asia-Pacific cruise of the "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier group, there was no underwater protection from British nuclear submarines, which was evaluated by professional media as "very disappointing." The Royal Navy currently has only five "Astute"-class attack nuclear submarines, and it is believed that only one can be deployed.
Domestically in the UK, it is widely acknowledged that using a supply ship without self-defense capability to carry out such a deterrence mission against China is nothing more than a show. To put it more seriously, the Royal Navy of Britain embarked on a journey of fabrication to meet KPIs.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1847825052402691/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.