• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

New RN CVFs/ Queen Elizabeth class carriers taking shape (updates)

CougarKing

Army.ca Fixture
Inactive
Reaction score
0
Points
360
Slowly but surely.

DATE:24/11/08
SOURCE:Flight International

RNCVF1.jpg

UK prepares for carrier operations with JSF
By Craig Hoyle


The UK is making significant advances in its preparations for carrierborne operations with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and expects to sign a contract by late February to acquire three aircraft to support test and evaluation of the type.
Partners to the US-led JSF project have until 28 February to commit funds to buy aircraft for use by a joint test team during initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) activities, with the Netherlands and the UK expected to acquire low-rate initial production examples.

The UK government is due to make a decision on its IOT&E investment before year-end, and should sign for its three aircraft (F-35A model pictured below, aboard HMS Illustrious) in January, say senior military officials.


Describing test and evaluation of the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B, the UK's selection for its Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) requirement, as "a key stepping stone", Rear Adm Simon Charlier, the Royal Navy's chief of staff for aviation, says the aircraft is the only candidate capable of meeting UK requirements.

"We want a fifth-generation aircraft it would be foolish to spend our money on anything else," says Charlier. "There isn't any other product on the market that can deliver within the parameters that we want." Key attributes include the aircraft's stealth performance and its integral intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities, he adds.

"We have laid out a set of parameters and requirements. The aircraft at the moment is meeting those, and is on time," says Charlier. "While it continues on track we will continue to be committed to it."

To be assigned to Royal Air Force and RN squadrons as a replacement for the BAE Systems Harrier GR9/9A, the JCA will provide the strike force for the navy's two future aircraft carriers (CVF), the first steel for which will be cut in early 2009. With a displacement of 65,000t, each CVF vessel will be capable of deploying an air wing of up to 40 aircraft, including 36 JCA.

Eurofighter programme officials have recently hinted at possible UK interest in a marinised variant of the RAF's Typhoon multirole strike aircraft, but Air Cdre Mark Green, JCA team leader for the UK Defence�Equipment and Support organisation, notes: "We know how to do STOVL operations in the UK." However, he adds that the UK's commitment to the F-35B "will not be set in stone until we buy fleet aircraft".

Preparations for UK operations of the CVF/JCA combination are moving fast, with the RN's 22,500t carrier HMS�Illustrious now hosting advanced trials of Qinetiq's VAAC Harrier testbed. The aircraft is testing a shipborne rolling vertical landing technique, being considered by the UK to boost the bring-back capabilities of its F-35Bs. This work, conducted in addition to extensive simulator-based trials, is expected to report around March 2009.

Synthetic-based exercises using data for the CVF are also continuing at Qinetiq's Maritime Integration Support Centre (MISC) in Portsmouth, Hampshire, with these intended to prove future concepts of operation and de-risk carrier design activities. The vessels - the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - will enter service in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

An 11-day visualisation and experimentation exercise concluded at the MISC on 13 November. This tested the CVF's ability to sustain JCA operations in a simulated campaign to prevent conflict between two rival nations. Between eight and 12 aircraft sorties were performed each day, using real F-35 programme software. Smaller-scale events have been conducted since mid-2005.

The MISC housed a representative flying control room (below) to manage the movement of aircraft, with additional elements including air traffic control. Some 23 uniformed personnel supported the exercise, along with up to 60 engineers from BAE Systems Insyte, Qinetiq and over 20 small and medium-sized enterprises.


RNCVFtraining.jpg


"We need to get people in front of the equipment that they will actually use to see how that information flows around," says Cdr Simon Petitt, carrier mission system lead for the Ministry of Defence. "We can de-risk applications by trialling early, and the concept of operations is maturing," he adds.

"Our goal was to validate the CVF's ability to support JCA operations," says Peter Craig, mission system visualisation experimentation lead for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. While a full analysis will take several months, he comments: "The objectives we set ourselves have been achieved."

Continued work at the MISC next year will include increased emphasis on mission preparation and planning activities, says Petitt. This will include assessing bandwidth requirements for retrieving ISTAR and logistics data from an F-35B before it returns from a sortie. "The key is to get the information from the aircraft, and at a time of high workload for the pilot," he says.

http://www.flightglobal.c...-operations-with-jsf.html
 
Just another update:

Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued January 30, 2009

The Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers will be assembled at Rosyth on Scotland's east coast in the next decade. Work is already well underway to make sure the dockyard is ready.

If you see huge sections of warship on barges inching their way up the UK coast in a few years' time, chances are they are on their way to Rosyth. Work is underway to prepare the Firth of Forth yard's No 1 dock - originally built in 1916 - to accommodate the two massive 65,000 tonne aicraft carriers to be in service in the next decade.

The yard contains the largest non-tidal basin for ship repair in the UK and Babcock Marine is working to increase the capacity of the dock, as well as widening the entrance to allow entry of the parts and departure of the 280-metre long, 56-metre high carriers. A £15m 120-metre span crane - nicknamed Goliath - is also being installed to straddle the dock.

Up to 150 staff from BAM Nuttall are doing the engineering in a £35m contract with Babcock on behalf of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, which also includes BVT Surface Fleet, Thales UK, BAE Systems and MOD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) as both participant and client. There are workers from around 50 other sub-contractors also working on site.

Work on No 1 dock began last March and is set to be completed by summer 2010:


"The project is in full swing and on schedule," said Sean Donaldson, Babcock's carrier project director at Rosyth. "The first parts of the first carrier will arrive in the summer of 2011, so we are not going to be short of things to do in the next few years."

Staff at Rosyth have been preparing for the work for at least two years:

"The work presents some challenges because it is related to old structures and, as the majority is below ground and in a marine environment, the project has significant risks," said Mr Donaldson. "We have spent two years on site investigations and de-risking activity to get to this stage. But working with the MOD we knew that investing the money up front would save us much in the long term."

The first carrier should be in dock for between 18 and 24 months. Assembly of the second will begin soon afterwards. It is a complex logistical process:

"It is a joint team doing the integration, led by BVT, to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle do fit together," said Mr Donaldson. "It is a very challenging timeline but it is in all our interests to make sure everyone comes together. We are all incentivised to work together to complete the project.

"We were refitting nuclear submarines at Rosyth until 2001 and they were massively complex projects. We have also refitted each of the current aircraft carriers. But we are certainly not complacent. We have had a team in place, three years ahead, to make sure we can complete this task."

"The Goliath crane will rest on two uprights either side of the dock and will be a towering icon of engineering endeavour and industrial capability."
Director Capital Ships, Tony Graham

The dock is long enough to accommodate each vessel but its cross- section is unsuitable for modern warship building, the ship's hull being flat-bottomed rather than the traditional V-shape. Huge granite steps, known as altars, that stick out from the side of the dock are being cut back to the width of the top tier. The dock floor will be nine metres wider when they have been removed.

Work is now underway to widen the main entrance to the Rosyth basin from the Firth of Forth. The 38-metre-wide entrance features a sliding gate to hold the tidal water back but is soon to be increased to 42 metres. A 25-metre-deep wall will be installed behind the existing entrance wall to allow excavation work, with the void filled with concrete. This will allow the existing entrance wall to be demolished before the final face of the new entrance is installed. Goliath is due to arrive in August 2010 with handover soon after.

Built by Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery, the 68-metre gantry crane to straddle the dock will be able to lift up to 1,000 tonnes from three hooks, two suspended from an upper trolley and one from a central, lower trolley which will have a capacity of 500 tonnes.

The individual capacity of each of the three hooks provides valuable flexibility in lifting awkward loads and will allow units or blocks to be turned over. Nearly 90 reinforced concrete bored piles are being socketed three metres into the underlying rock on the eastern side of the dock as foundations for the crane, with further piles driven up to seven metres into rock on the western side.

The crane will arrive partially erected through the newly-widened dockyard entrance and will be 'skidded' from ship to shore onto the crane rails. DE&S visitors to the dockyard to see the progress Babcock are making have included the Director Capital Ships, Tony Graham, who saw the works in the autumn:

"This is an exciting time for the CVF [future carrier] project as, around the UK, we make final preparations for cutting of steel on the ships in early 2009," he said. "For stability, the Goliath crane will rest on two uprights either side of the dock and will be a towering icon of engineering endeavour and industrial capability.

"In this sense, it parallels an ever-ready and world-class carrier strike capability, resting as it does on the two iconic ships - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - lifting the Royal Navy into a new modern age."


http://www.defense-aerosp...icle-view/release/101895/
shipyard-expands-for-new-royal-navy-carriers.html
 
I read the other day there is a possibility that the JHF will be decommissioned before the UK has even started purchasing serious quantities of JSFs and may in fact be left without a fixed wing fleet air arm for several years. Given that the first new QE class carrier isn't scheduled to be finished until 2014 (estimate 2018 actual delivery date + sea trials before you see f-35s actually flying off these things)

The accountants really are running the UK forces these days
 
Good.

DATE:16/02/09
SOURCE:Flight International

UK to sign for first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters 'within weeks'
By Craig Hoyle

The UK is expected to sign a deal "within the next few weeks" to participate in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase, says minister for defence equipment and support Quentin Davies.

Davies and representatives from the UK Ministry of Defence's Joint Combat Aircraft integrated project team visited Lockheed's Fort Worth manufacturing site in Texas in February. During the visit they held discussions with officials from the company and the US armed services.

Topics covered in the talks spanned issues such as operational sovereignty, in-service support, the integration of UK-specific equipment and programme costs, says Davies, who adds that the visit "helped answer some questions".

The minister told a launch event for the UK Royal Navy's "Fly Navy 100" celebrations in London on 16 February that he believes the programme is "well under control, and there are already indications on price schedules that we are talking about. I hope that there will be a very positive announcement within the next few weeks."

As the USA's lone Level 1 partner on the JSF project, the UK has long planned to acquire three short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs during the IOT&E phase to participate in development testing of the fifth-generation type as part of a joint test team. This will inform the MoD's long-term acquisition plans for the type, and enable it "to make suggestions early enough in the programme where it is possible to improve some systems or performances," Davies says.

"The operational testing and evaluation phase is essential," he says. "Some of the other [JSF] customers are prepared to simply buy the aircraft and take it on trust, but I don't think that's a responsible way [for the UK] to act."

Lockheed requires the UK to sign a contract for its IOT&E aircraft by the end of February, but the investment had recently been rumoured as potentially being at risk under the MoD's ongoing financial planning round. However, Davies says: "I have a smile on my face, and I'm confident we shall be able to move forward."

Industry sources suggest that the UK could eventually purchase up to 138 production F-35s to meet its Joint Combat Aircraft requirement, which will deliver new fighters for use by Royal Air Force and RN squadrons, including from two 65,000t Future Aircraft Carriers.

The RN will mark the centenary of its manned aviation activities on 7 May.
 
Just another update:

From the RN site:

"Last month Her Majesty the Queen gave her formal approval for the new class of aircraft carrier to be known as the 'Queen Elizabeth Class'. The giant hull sections that will make up the ships have been in construction since December of last year."

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.15652

RNCVFpair.jpg


"In summary, and to add some context, the first CVF will be sailing within 6 years, with the first members of the Ship's Company complementing HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH within 4
years from now."

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk//upload/pdf/CARRIER_STRIKE_20090123112213.pdf
 
The caption for the very first picture had me curious, alleging a F-35A (Export, no doubt) flying off an aircraft carrier.  As I recall, the -A is the air force model; -B is the VSTOL version the Brits want for their carriers, and the -C model is the US Navy variant.

That the US is spending $138M to dumb-down the export versions is something that doesn't get mentioned very often in the press...
 
dapaterson

Do you have any information regarding the "dumb-down" of the export versions?
I would be interested in reading it.

And to starseed I can not remember where I read it but I remember that they were saying they will keep the harrier GR7A /GR9A and T10 versions around until the JSF are phased in.
 
Another major update: the building of HMS Queen Elizabeth begins with the cutting of the first steel in the shipyard today.

BBC Steel cutting for HMS Queen Elizabeth later today

New carriers at heart of defence debate

By Nick Childs
BBC News 

The construction project is expected to create or secure a total of 10,000 jobs 
A steel-cutting ceremony at Govan shipyard later will mark the beginning of construction of two new aircraft carriers, military vessels that stir emotions among supporters and opponents alike.
What is it about aircraft carriers?

Of course they are big. And they are expensive. The latest estimate is that the Royal Navy's two new carriers, HMSs Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, will cost £5bn - 25% up on just a year ago.
But it is not just that. Perhaps more than any weapons except nuclear ones, aircraft carriers tend to be seen as a statement of how a country views its military role in the world. And therein lies a lot of the controversy which seems to surround them.
The steel-cutting ceremony in Glasgow is certainly a historic event. It marks the formal start of construction of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The last time that happened in Britain for a "proper" full-size aircraft carrier was 65 years ago. (The ship then was HMS Hermes, of Falklands fame, still serving now in the Indian Navy as the Viraat.)
But the carriers have also been at the heart of the arguments over the levels of and priorities in defence spending.
Continuing relevance?
Opponents, including some in the Army and the RAF, see them as expensive luxuries of little relevance to the kinds of campaigns Britain has been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They should, the argument goes, be sacrificed to pay for urgent shortfalls - in army equipment in particular.


HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HMS PRINCE OF WALES Displacement: 65,000 tonnes Length: 280m (920ft) Width (at flight-deck level): 70m (230ft) Keel to masthead: 56m (184ft) Nine decks (plus flight deck) Speed: 25+ knots Range: 8,000-10,000 miles Aircraft: 36 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and four Airborne Early Warning aircraft, plus EH 101 Merlin helicopters Crew: 1,450 (including air crew) Weapons: Phalanx close-in weapon systems; 30mm and mini-guns Source: Ministry of Defence

The admirals, of course, disagree. They point out that the ships are designed to last for up to 50 years - and who knows what the threats will be then?
In that context, they insist, they are actually hugely flexible national assets - floating airfields that are not reliant on the goodwill of allies, that could help deter future conflicts, provide vital air support for troops ashore if they do occur again, and be able to perform a whole range of other missions - perhaps as huge helicopter platforms for some future humanitarian crisis.
But the £5bn price tag for the ships themselves is just the start.
There is also the question of the aircraft that they are chiefly designed to carry - the Joint Strike Fighters for both the Navy and the RAF, which will cost some £12bn.


The commitment to the carriers was at the heart of Labour's 1998 Strategic Defence Review. But the sceptics say that the world has moved on.
And with commentators and the opposition both insisting that the Ministry of Defence's current plans are unsustainable, and that the state of the public finances means that there will have to be further savings in areas like defence, there have been growing calls for a new defence review, with these programmes very much in the spotlight.
Some argue that any such review also has to be in the context of a broader security review, beyond just defence, and a foreign policy re-think, that ask questions about whether the country can and should still try to project the kind of military power that the carriers imply.
There have been many echoes in the current debate from the 1960s, when the Navy last tried to win approval for a new class of big aircraft carriers.
The backdrop then was also that of an economic crisis, and questions over what level of international military footprint the country could afford.
There was a bitter inter-service fight between the Navy and the RAF. On that occasion, the Navy lost out. The then Labour government cancelled the carrier plans in 1966.
The Navy's consolation prize was a class of what were dubbed "through-deck cruisers", described as such in part to throw potential opponents off the scent that they were, in reality, mini-carriers.
The first, HMS Invincible, which also served in the Falklands and basically had to perform as a traditional carrier, is now in reserve. The other two, Illustrious and Ark Royal, soldier on for the time being.
Progress
The new carriers will be about three times the size of the current ships, and - at 65,000 tonnes - the largest British warships ever.
Britain's previous biggest carriers were HMS Eagle and the old Ark Royal, star of the Sailor television series in the mid-1970s, at 50,000 tonnes.
The plan is that the new ships will be built in blocks at four different shipyards, before being finally assembled at Rosyth. Officially, it has been stated that the construction programme will help create and sustain 10,000 jobs.
The only warships in the world that are significantly bigger are the US Navy's super-carriers, which weigh in at up to 100,000 tonnes. (They are nuclear-powered, and carry about 80 aircraft. HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are designed to accommodate about 40.)
For the Navy, it has already been a tortuous process to get to this point with the new ships.
There are bound to be questions still about their future, against the current political and economic backdrop.

But, at least for the Navy, they have already progressed further than its last abortive big-carrier effort in the 1960s.
 
There's an article on the modifications to the JSF for export markets at:

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/feature/106186/reality-check:-jsf-export-variant.html

In brief:  Changes to crypto systems, and protection of critical technologies.  A deliberately vague term.
 
Another update:

Defence jobs at risk as MoD drops jump jet fighter engine
Up to 750 British defence manufacturing jobs are at risk as the Ministry of Defence is expected to announce it will drop a Rolls Royce fighter engine in favour of a cheaper American alternative.

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Published: 8:58PM BST 05 Aug 2009
The decision is expected to cost the leading British engine manufacturer up to £5 billion in lost orders over the coming decade and will be a blow to its Bristol-based workforce.
It will come as an embarrassment for the Government after Lord Mandelson made an announcement last month at the Rolls Royce headquarters in Derby that the company was "among the best in UK manufacturing".


In a significant about turn the MoD has indicated that it will ditch the jump-jet version of Joint Strike Fighter in favour of the conventional model, as the planes for its two new aircraft carriers.
The Daily Telegraph has learnt from senior defence officials that an announcement will be made this autumn.
The move, welcomed by many defence analysts and the Royal Navy, will mean that the MoD has wasted £500 million of taxpayers' money paid to Rolls Royce to develop the highly complex engine to allow vertical take-off similar to the Harrier jump jet.
A domestic row is also brewing as Rolls Royce was not widely consulted on the forthcoming decision. The company said it regarded the story as "speculation" and would not comment any further.
But the company faces job losses with up to £5 billion in lost revenue in engine sales if the MoD rejects the "B" version of JSF fighters and goes for the "CV" conventional model which takes off from an aircraft carrier runway.
The decision will also have a significant impact on relations with Washington because it will increase the price of the 350 US Marine Corps jump-jet fighters that have been ordered, forcing the US military to ask for money from Congress.
The about-turn will also mean that the first of two 65,000 tonne carriers under construction, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will have to be redesigned with cost penalties. It is possible the recent £1 billion rise to £5 billion for the carriers might by partly attributable to the change of plan.
But senior MoD sources believe that choosing the "CV" variant over the "B" will give the Navy considerable advantages as the conventional fighter can fly further and carry a far bigger bomb payload. Both variants are built by Lockheed Martin.
Part of the reason for the change is the huge costs of developing and building the "B" version, , with each aircraft coming with a price tag of a projected £105 million with technological issues still to be resolved. The CV version is expected to cost an estimated £90 million leading to a saving of £2.2 billion.
But there have also been strong hints given that considerably less than the 150 proposed JSF will now be ordered with MoD sources suggesting that "greater capability will mean fewer aircraft".
"This will make a significant saving, not a vast one, but more than significant," a senior MoD source said. "The saving is more than worth going for."
"The CV version provides various possibilities as well as disadvantages. We have not yet decided which version of JSF we are going to buy but the CV does have a vast amount of weight lift, a larger payload, longer range and can carry more fuel.
"It also makes combined operations easier as you can land on similar carriers belonging to allies such as the French or Americans."
The political row could be further inflamed as Roll Royce's chief executive, Sir John Rose is said to be close to Lord Mandelson.
Quentin Davies, the procurement minister, told The Telegraph: "We have to take an immensely important decision. The testing and evaluation phase has been ongoing of the first three aircraft. We have to take a decision as to which version of aircraft we shall be agreeing and we shall be focusing on this situation in the coming months."
The Navy has been flying Harrier jump jets off carriers for more than three decades and it is believed the "B" variant was originally chosen as a continuation of this when the Harrier goes out of service in 2015. But the design plans for the two new aircraft carriers always had the possibility of changing to a conventional jet.
A defence industry source said: "This is a massive decision as it changes the whole industrial landscape. This will have a hell of an impact on Rolls Royce because they are part of building lift fan engine for the B version.
"The CV variant has no lift fan so there is a massive amount of technology invested that might not be utilised. That potentially could cost hundreds of millions and hundreds of jobs lost."
The decision also comes with some risk as the Navy will be reliant on the Americans developing a new electro-magnetic catapult to launch the fighters off the carrier.
"This is a real risk because the new catapult design is a major undertaking. It is not just a widget," said a defence aviation source. "If it breaks then the planes can't fly and the carrier is useless.
"Also the UK has no serving experts in this area of carrier flying so it's a real step in the dark."
In an official statement the MoD said: "To maximise the flexibility that the carriers will offer over their service life, they are being built to an adaptable design that can operate both Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) and Carrier Variant (CV) type aircraft."
It added that the STOVL or "B" variant of the JSF remains "our prefered solution".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5978437/Defence-jobs-at-risk-as-MoD-drops-jump-jet-fighter-engine.html
 
Alright, I'm reposting this from another forum where the initial poster said the CVFs won't fit in any current RN naval base. Wouldn't they have thought about this before starting construction?

1.jpg


The Royal Navy has unveiled an image of how a giant aircraft carrier will look in its base when it is completed.

The computer-generated image was created to give an impression of the scale of the next generation of warships due to enter service in 2015.

It shows one of the carriers alongside Portsmouth Naval Base, Hampshire, where it will take up three jetties.

The government gave the go-ahead for the new HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales vessels last year.

The move came despite criticism the £5bn cost would be better spent elsewhere in the armed forces.

The carriers will be the biggest and most powerful warships ever designed and built in the UK.



...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8253285.stm
 
A big blow to the RN's future plans.

Navy surrenders one new aircraft carrier in budget battle
Michael Smith

The Royal Navy has agreed to sacrifice one of its two new aircraft carriers to save about £8.2 billion from the defence budget.

The admirals, who have battled for a decade to secure the two new 65,000-ton carriers, have been forced to back down because of the soaring cost of the American-produced Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft due to fly off them.

The move is a blow to the navy's prestige and has come on the heels of Gordon Brown's announcement last month that he was axing one of the navy's four Trident nuclear deterrent submarines.

It is too late for the navy to renege on contracts to build the two carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, due to go into service in 2016, and the Prince of Wales, due to follow in 2018. Although the second carrier will be built, it will be used as an amphibious commando ship, with only helicopters on board instead of JSF aircraft.

The move will leave the navy without a carrier when the Queen Elizabeth goes into refit, leaving open the possibility that it might have to borrow one from the French navy. In a meeting with Brown last year, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, had suggested that refits of French and British aircraft carriers should be co-ordinated.

The decision to have only one new aircraft carrier will cut the number of JSFs to be flown by RAF squadrons from 138 to about 50, saving £7.6 billion. At current prices, the aircraft will cost close to £90m each, but this could rise to more than £100m.

Using the Prince of Wales as a commando ship will save a further £600m, the amount that would have been needed to replace the amphibious landing ship Ocean, which is due to go out of service in 2018.
The decision to cut the number of JSF aircraft has been agreed by senior navy and air force commanders in discussions preparing for the strategic defence review.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are committed to conducting a strategic defence review after the general election, which must be held by the late spring.

A senior Royal Navy officer said: "We always knew that the real cost of the carrier project is the JSF fleet to go on them. It would cost us at least £12 billion if we bought all the aircraft we originally asked for. We are waking up to the fact that all those planes are unaffordable. More than half of the £5 billion contracts to build the two new carriers have been contracted, so it is too late to get out of building the ships. This way at least we are covered when Ocean goes out of service."

Since both aircraft carriers will still be built, there are unlikely to be job losses at the Rosyth ship yards, close to Brown's constituency. The JSF aircraft are being built in Fort Worth, Texas, with the involvement of BAE Systems.

The RAF, which had been due to replace its Tornado aircraft with the JSF, will now equip all its frontline squadrons with Eurofighter aircraft instead.

The Conservatives said any decision to axe a carrier would be "absolutely unacceptable" and typical of the government's "chaotic, inconsistent and incompetent defence procurement policy".


Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the move exposed the government's claim that it wanted a completely independent strategic defence review. "The government is saying it is fully committed to the carriers while at the same time forcing them to be cut," he said.

"It is confusing for the navy, it is confusing for industry and it is completely inconsistent with the whole concept of running an independent defence review."

The Ministry of Defence said Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, remained 100% committed to the carriers but "financial circumstances mean some difficult decisions will have to be taken to prioritise our forces' efforts in Afghanistan".

The Royal Navy currently has three smaller 20,600-ton carriers: Illustrious, Ark Royal and Invincible. Illustrious is on a visit to Liverpool. Invincible has already been mothballed



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6888962.ece
 
An article plus the first pic from the shipyard:

RNCVFfirstshipyardpic.jpg



Build programme 'well under way'...
http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item_10274.html

UK Carrier build gains momentum

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) is forging ahead on the Queen Elizabeth (QE) Class, having recently made contract awards worth £325 million that will drive momentum into the ongoing build of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
On 14 January, Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy MP visited Govan to welcome the contracts which have been placed in Scotland. Following the visit, he said:
"These contract awards are great news for Glasgow, the Scottish economy and Scottish jobs. There has never been any doubt how important the aircraft carriers are to Scotland as a multibillion pound project securing thousands of jobs."

The contracts have been awarded to five new suppliers to the Queen Elizabeth (QE) Class Aircraft Carrier Programme and will provide a number of vital services and parts for the ships, including fire fighting equipment and the transportation for the massive super blocks from the build yards across the UK to Rosyth for final assembly.

The award of these contracts by the Alliance is a clear indication of the progress that is being made on the QE Class programme and the momentum achieved in 2009. In total, the Alliance is expected to award around £1.5 billion of contracts across the programme.
 
CougarDaddy, could you update your photo links please?  Thanks. 
 
The latest pictures from the shipyard: (photo courtesy of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance/ACA facebook page)

The future HMS Queen Elizabeth taking shape...


CVFred.jpg


photo of the rear island (for flight deck ops) still under construction:

rearislandconstruction.jpg
 
An update: the first of the class is nearing completion.

Royal Navy's latest aircraft carrier nears completion at Rosyth

BBC link

Assembly work on the biggest ship ever built for the Royal Navy is nearing completion at Rosyth, in Fife. New aerial pictures of the HMS Queen Elizabeth have been released by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. The images show work well advanced with both "islands"' now in place.

And all that remains to be fitted to the ship are two sponsons - flight deck extensions - and the ramp or "ski-jump"' which give aircraft an extra boost on take-off.

< Edited >

68758915_aerialimage2.jpg
 
A belated update since the "100 days" countdown actually started last March 26th:

Royal Navy official site

Carrier countdown begins with just 100 days until Queen Elizabeth is named

One hundred days from today the biggest warship Britain has built will be officially named by Her Majesty The Queen.

On July 4, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier the Queen Elizabeth will be named by Her Majesty in a ceremony at No.1 Dock in Rosyth on the north bank of the Forth.

With the milestone date now upon them, the 95-strong ship’s company and some 3,000 dockyard engineers, fitters and technicians are acutely aware of what needs to be done to ensure the 65,000-tonne leviathan is ready for her flooding up.

Work under way right now includes fitting one of the two aircraft lifts – capable not just of moving Lightning II jets from the hangar to the flight deck and back but powerful enough to lift the entire ship’s company – and completing the part of the aft island from where flight deck operations will be controlled.

(...EDITED)

Plus a picture courtesy of the UK Daily Mail:
CVFQE100days.jpg
 
Another update:

Mast fitted to tallest warship

(glasgowsouthandeastwoodextra.co.uk)

From the tip of the newly-installed pole mast to the keel, the carrier now stands 73 metres (239ft) tall - taller than Tower Bridge or Nelson's Column.

With a draught of 10 metres (33ft) it means the aircraft carrier - due to be officially named by the Queen at Rosyth, Scotland, on July 4 - will stand 63 metres (206ft) above the waterline.

But at that height, the ship is too tall to sail beneath either of the road or rail bridges over the Forth.

905372fbc06bfaa0db47a83963a5c096.jpg

Image From: pinterest.com
 
Back
Top