The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that analysis of the Royal Navy’s Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) trials remains ongoing, more than two years after initial testing was carried out aboard HMS Prince of Wales.
In a written parliamentary answer, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said that equipment enabling UK F-35B aircraft to conduct SRVL landings is already fitted to the carrier and was used during trials conducted in 2023. However, the results of those trials are still being examined by a commercial partner, with no decision yet taken on whether the system will progress to full operational development.
“Equipment to enable UK F-35Bs to undertake Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landings is fitted to HMS Prince Of Wales and underwent initial trials in 2023; the results of those trials continue to be analysed by a commercial partner,” Pollard said. “When complete, this will enable the Ministry of Defence to make an accurate assessment of the benefits and cost of further developing the SRVL system for operational use.”
The response confirms that SRVL has neither entered service nor been formally cancelled, but remains in a prolonged assessment phase. Last year, the Ministry of Defence clarified that SRVL had been reprofiled rather than abandoned, following confusion triggered by language in the department’s annual report referring to a “Rolling Vertical Landing” upgrade cancellation.
In a previous written answer, the minister said that “Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) for the UK’s F-35B Lightning aircraft to Queen Elizabeth Class carriers has not been cancelled; it has been reprofiled as a Defence Choice so that fitting the capability aligns with the introduction of a related complex weapons programme.”
That explanation suggested a sequencing decision rather than a technical failure, with SRVL potentially being aligned with the introduction of heavier and more complex future weapons.
The physical configuration of the carrier fleet appears consistent with that approach. HMS Prince of Wales retains several of the systems installed to support early SRVL trials, while HMS Queen Elizabeth has not received the Bedford Array landing aid during her current refit, despite earlier expectations that it would be fitted during this maintenance period. That omission points to a deliberate pause in near-term integration while preserving the option for later adoption.
SRVL is designed to allow F-35B aircraft to recover aboard a carrier at higher all-up weights by combining forward motion with vertical thrust. By maintaining airflow over the wings during landing, the aircraft can return with more fuel or unexpended weapons, reducing the need to jettison stores before recovery.
We have spent two years trailing landing lights on a carrier that would stop f-35s dumping millions of pounds munitions into the sea. Am I missing something?
I should say, two year trial for one carrier?
It seems like everything the MOD does takes forever. Ukraine does in weeks what would take a decade in the UK.
This is another conformation of a not so long ago conformation that confirmed that this was still ongoing. It is yet to be confirmed as to when the ongoing will cease and the begining of Ops will start but some time in the 2030’s has been mentioned subject to conformation.