<P> The vessels currently have a displacement of approximately 65,000 tonnes (64,000 long tons; 72,000 short tons), but the design anticipates added weight over the lifetime of the ships . The ships will be 280 metres (920 ft) long and have a Carrier Air Wing (CVW) of up to forty aircraft (though they are capable of carrying up to fifty at full load). They will be the largest warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy, and the second - largest non-US Navy warships after the Yamato - class battleships . The projected cost of the programme is £ 6.2 billion . </P> <P> Both carriers will be completed as originally planned, in a Short Take - Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration, deploying the Lockheed Martin F - 35B . Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the British government had intended to purchase the F - 35C carrier version of this aircraft, and adopted plans for Prince of Wales to be built to a Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) configuration . After the projected costs of the CATOBAR system rose to around twice the original estimate, the government announced that it would revert to the original design on 10 May 2012 . </P> <P> In 1996, the British Defence Secretary Michael Portillo signed a letter of intent with his French equivalent to establish Anglo - French naval study groups, one of which was to be about future development of aircraft carriers . This was followed by the Saint - Malo declaration of 1998, in which Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac agreed to work together on an integrated European Union defence force . In December 1999, the European Council established the Helsinki Headline Goal, which focussed on creating a European Union Rapid Reaction Force to operate at the global level . One element of such a force was to be three large aircraft carriers, two provided by the Royal Navy and one by the French . According to this plan, other western European navies were to provide the escort cover needed by the carriers . </P> <P> In May 1997, the newly elected Labour government led by Tony Blair launched the Strategic Defence Review, which re-evaluated every weapon system, then active or in procurement, with the exception of the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Vanguard - class ballistic missile submarines . The report, published in July 1998, stated that aircraft carriers offer the following: </P>

Where are the new aircraft carriers being built