Defence chiefs have last-minute doubts about £4bn carriers

They were meant to be the pride and joy of Britain’s 21st-century fleet, an emblem of its pre-eminence as a military and diplomatic power.

But last night it emerged that the imminent announcement of the commissioning of two aircraft carriers at a total cost of £4 billion has left some of the country’s senior military leaders deeply unhappy.

General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, has written confidentially to all one-star and two-star officers in the Ministry of Defence — equivalent to brigadier and major-general — asking for their views about the need for a next-generation carrier strike force.

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