Aircraft Carriers III

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Excellent find on the pix Obi Wan...

I served aboard five USN carriers and never saw a carrier do a port side RAS. Never. And I've seen only one photo/video of an USN CV doing a port side RAS.

USS America (CVA 66) circa 1967...

 
I'll put here what I now posted in a Chinese carrier thread, in response to Deino who didn't seem to know an aircraft carrier might be inducted into a navy soon after the first sail
#3015 Deino, Today at 7:18 AM



Aircraft Carriers III Apr 3, 2017
it's USNI News
NAVSEA: Carrier Gerald R. Ford Set to Start Sea Trials this Week
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Aircraft Carriers III Jul 22, 2017
found the time now: "Ceremony will take place on Pier 11 at 10 am."
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8:35 AM
Saturday, July 22, 2017 (EDT)
Time in Newport News, VA, USA

can't find a link to live streaming though ... got one ?


Deino you don't appear to follow the US Military, so FYI there're some projects, called gamechangers

(the Fords, the Zumwalt-class destroyers, Littoral Combat Ships, F-35s),

which are grossly delayed and over budget (but are 'too big to fail' so won't get cancelled) and have dubious (sometimes laughable) performance;

what the Pentagon does is rushing them into service
 
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Obi Wan Russell

Jedi Master
VIP Professional
Excellent find on the pix Obi Wan...

I served aboard five USN carriers and never saw a carrier do a port side RAS. Never. And I've seen only one photo/video of an USN CV doing a port side RAS.

USS America (CVA 66) circa 1967...

Well in my previous post the video shows a starboard side RAS as well. Generally the RN's Carriers 'shut down flying ops' whilst RAS-ing so they can devote manpower to stowing everything that comes aboard:55d7a5281baddc9742c34078b46e2ba1.jpg a.jpg e42658dc0e6e900a9838532182bf7144.jpg 26730863_1668705216509742_6564360565439711075_n.jpg 041409271.jpg
 
here's the link to
HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH entering Portsmouth
23 June 2018 collection
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Clipboard482.jpg



only low-res vids are available just like that;
noticed through the tweet
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Best photo of the day, and probably some of the best ones ever, goes to
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..... WOW
1f62e.png
We looked at a CGI for years but here it is for real.

DgZcDtTWkAArBJQ.jpg
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Well, it is critical to note the following:

1) The US Marines are committed to helping the UK when they have their first actual depoyment in 2021. The US Marines are rapidly moving F-35s oto the Wasp and America class ships, habing deployed 16 F-35Bs onto the America for large trials last year, and with that deployment were several UK pilots. So UK pilots have already been flying F-35s off of US MArine decks.

2) The UK will have less than 24 F-35s to begin with in 2012 and will fless the needed numbers out with US Marine aircraft.

3)By 2023 the UK will have 42 operational F-35 aircraft, 24 of which will be frontline carrier aircraft so they will not need US MArine aircraft after that time. The folling is a good piece regarding this:

WASP-F35B-00.jpg

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UK Military Times said:
Merlin helicopters were the first aircraft to begin flying from HMS Queen Elizabeth and they will soon be followed by F-35 jets in Autumn this year.

Here at the UK Defence Journal we really point this out often but we’re getting closer and closer to ending the ‘carrier with no planes’ nonsense that appears all over social media so we’re happy to restate this once again.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to start fixed-wing flight trials with three or more F-35Bs off the eastern coast of the US around September this year. A fantastic info-graphic created by SaveTheRoyalNavy can be found
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and details the timeline of the programme.

In order to prepare for operating from HMS Queen Elizabeth, Royal Navy sailors have also trained alongside their US Navy counterparts on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. Last year, the Royal Navy sent six Sailors to integrate into Wasp’s flight deck operations to prepare them for their upcoming Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

Royal Navy sailor Richard Clark said:

“Living with one another is good for integration, so when we work together, when we have your aircraft come to our flight decks, and vice versa, we’ll have a bit more awareness of how we each operate. It helps us work with you better on different platforms when we need to. This is the first group of guys who are not 1st Classes. Some of them have never been on a ship before, so for the younger guys, it’s good for them to get experience.”

Recent F-35 trials aboard the USS Wasp weren’t just an operational test for the United States Marine Corps, with much of the data produced being used to inform the USMC’s declaration of initial operating capability but also for the United Kingdom. UK personnel were fully embedded in the USS Wasp trials and will use the data gathered from this event, future trials and operational deployments to support the UK’s flying trials aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth off the US coast in Spring next year.

British F-35 pilots also recently embarked on the USS America for at-sea developmental testing phase 3 (known as DT), the last trial that paves the way for the US Marine Corps to deploy the jet operationally on amphibious assault ships. BAE Systems test pilot Pete Wilson said about the upcoming trials on the HMS Queen Elizabeth:

“This will not be a DT phase. Testing on the Queen Elizabeth will be like DTs 1, 2 and 3 combined. We don’t need to use fully instrumented aircraft; we already understand most of the loads on the aircraft systems, as we have tested that during earlier tests.”

HMS Prince of Wales will take over F-35 trials to allow HMS Queen Elizabeth to return to dock for her routine re-certification work.

Former Captain of the vessel Ian Groom told media that HMS Prince of Wales will need to be delivered during 2019 to allow flight trails to continue whilst Queen Elizabeth is undergoing inspection in dry dock. Quoted in Janes, Groom said:

“There is a further set of fixed-wing flying trials needed and HMS Prince of Wales has to carry them out. HMS Queen Elizabeth’s re-certification period in 2019 means we need HMS Prince of Wales then.”

What will the vessels carry when in operational service?

The term now used for the carriers embarked squadrons is ‘Carrier Air Wing’ (CVW). The vessels are capable of deploying a variety of aircraft in large numbers, up to a maximum in the upper fifties in surge conditions. Captain Jerry Kyd, commander of HMS Queen Elizabeth, commented on the initial deployment and the gradual increase in air wing numbers:

“We are constrained by the F-35 buy rate even though that was accelerated in SDSR in 2015, so initial operating capability numbers in 2020 are going to be very modest indeed. We will flesh it out with helicopters, and a lot depends on how many USMC F-35s come on our first deployment in 2021. But by 2023, we are committed to 24 UK jets on-board, and after that it’s too far away to say.”

In 2023, the UK will have 42 F-35 aircraft, with 24 being front-line fighters and the remaining 18 will be used for training (at least 5 on the OCU), be in reserve or in maintenance.

In addition to the joint force of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy F-35Bs and their pilots, the air wing is expected to be composed of a ‘Maritime Force Protection’ package of nine anti-submarine Merlin HM2 and four or five Merlin for airborne early warning; alternatively a ‘Littoral Manoeuvre’ package could include a mix of RAF Chinooks, Army Apaches, Merlin HC4 and Wildcat HM2.

The Crowsnest AEW&C aircraft will come from a number of the embarked Merlins (any of which can be fitted with the sensor package), the number again scaling with requirements.

So, where we are already seeing large numbers of F-35Bs on US Wasp and America class, like this one on the USS America ;ast year, where you can see 13 on deck and there were five below deck and two in the air for a total of 20:

USS-America-13-F35-B.jpg

I love that pic. count the noses on the back. There are nine aircraft spotted on the aft end there, with four forward.

I am sure the time will come soon enough when we see this same type of thing on the Queen Elizabeth. Initially in 2019, and then larger numbers like this in the 2021 time frame:

QE-16-F-35B.jpg

We have to remember that for both nations, the F-35Bs and the QE class, and the Ford class, which willbe the point of my next post, are all brand new classes, each of which is bringing a LOT of new things to the navies of each country. As such, they are going to go slow and sure to make sure they get it right. It's not like bringing on a new Nimits for the US, or a new version of an F/A-18 which have been in service already for a long period.

@Obi Wan Russell @bd popeye @Jura @asif iqbal @kwaigonegin @vesicles @SamuraiBlue @Air Force Brat @Deino @Equation @duncanidaho
 
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