LONDON – Britain plans to build two aircraft carriers in the next decade at a cost of $8 billion, the Ministry of Defense said Wednesday.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will weigh 65,000 tons each, nearly three times the size of the carriers now in the fleet, the ministry said.
The ships are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016, the ministry said, and all of the major work will be done in British shipyards.
The new carriers, designed for at least 40 years of service, will replace the HMS Invincible, launched in 1977; the HMS Illustrious, launched in 1978; and the HMS Ark Royal, launched in 1981.
“The carriers represent a step change in our capability, enabling us to deliver increased strategic effect and influence around the world at a time and place of our choosing,” Defense Secretary Des Browne told the House of Commons.
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