Aircraft Carriers III

Obi Wan Russell said:

...And not forgetting The Most Important Guest, HM The Queen!View attachment 43891 View attachment 43892 View attachment 43893 View attachment 43894 View attachment 43895 View attachment 43896

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Her Majesty The Queen welcomed HMS Queen Elizabeth into the Royal Navy fleet

Her Majesty The Queen has commissioned the UK's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the Royal Navy. The Queen spoke at a ceremony in Portsmouth Naval Base, attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and military chiefs. In her role as the ship's Lady Sponsor Her Majesty addressed guests before the Ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Jerry Kyd, read the commissioning warrant.
The iconic White Ensign was then raised, symbolising the commissioning of the nation's future flagship into the Royal Navy's fleet.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said, "Today marks the start of a hugely significant chapter for the Royal Navy, and indeed the nation, as the future flagship is commissioned into Her Majesty's fleet.

"It is an honour to witness the crowning moment of an extraordinarily busy year for the Royal Navy that has seen us name the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, cut steel on the first Type 26 frigates and launch the National Shipbuilding Strategy."
aving successfully completed her second stage of sea trials off the south coast of England, the carrier is back alongside at her home port of Portsmouth. Over 10,000 people across the UK have contributed to the delivery of the ship under the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.

Completing final build activity and preparing for helicopter trials in the New Year, HMS Queen Elizabeth will head to the United States for initial flight trials off the coast in autumn 2018. There are currently 150 Royal Navy and RAF personnel training in the US on our 13 F-35 jets.

The UK has worked closely on both the F-35 and carrier programmes with the US, our pre-eminent partner within NATO, enabling us to fly aircraft from each other's ships. Both of the UK's new carriers will be able to operate alongside NATO and coalition allies.
Admiral Sir Philip Jones, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, said: "In hoisting the White Ensign from HMS Queen Elizabeth today, Britain has confirmed her place among the world's great maritime powers in the most majestic and muscular terms.

"The Queen Elizabeth-class carriers will sit at the heart of a modernised and emboldened Royal Navy, capable of projecting power and influence at sea, in the air, over the land and in cyberspace, and offering our nation military and political choice in an uncertain world.

"But our greatest strength of all is the young sailors and marines upon whose shoulders our continued security and prosperity rests. They are starting their careers as a new chapter opens for the Royal Navy - and like all those who have gone before them, they are ready to serve their Queen and Country."

Both new aircraft carriers will be able to perform a wide range of tasks, from humanitarian and disaster relief to fighting terrorism and high-end warfighting. In what has been termed, 'the Year of the Royal Navy' the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, was named in Rosyth and is structurally complete.

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FORBIN said:

And yes 91 years and impeccable ! looking forward for F-35B but you have a helo carrier and 20 surface combattants
Actualy 250 troops max i think Prince of Wales yet modified for more i have 900 troops and after QE ?

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Jura said:

another fanboish outlet
...

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Obi Wan Russell said:

The intention is to keep both ships identically fitted, so modifications to one will be applied to the other as soon as possible. Some commentators out there seem intent on implying QE will be a 'carrier' whilst PoW will be just an LPH; absolute rubbish! I'll just take a while to get both ships fully fitted for all the missions they will be required to perform (Carrier and/or LPH as required). They will be in service for fifty years af6ter all and everyone expects them to spring to life from the shipyard fully mission capable. Perfection takes practice.

The two ships will alternate as the 'On Call' carrier for the RN, which does not mean there is only enough manpower for one ship and the other will be 'mothballed'. Both whips will have complete crews, one ship will be at lower readiness for sea which includes allowing the crew leave, training time, alongside maintenance and the like whilst the other is either readying for deployment at actually deployed at sea. It's a pattern the RN managed successfully for decades with only two Invincibles in service at a time, it's just this time we won't have the slack of a third ship held in reserve. View attachment 43954 View attachment 43955 View attachment 43956 View attachment 43957

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FORBIN said:

As Albions LPDs but with Ocean retired can change for these one 2 actives ?
And you confirm up to 900 troops for a QE ?

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Obi Wan Russell said:

As I said any modifications applied to one ship will also be applied to the other, on the basis that when the capability is needed, the 'on call' carrier should have it whichever one it is. The Albions are a slightly different case, they are rotated between in service and reserve as a cost saving measure, one first practiced with their predecessors, the Fearless class LPDs. Amphibious operations are generally thought to need more notice than carrier deployments so keeping one in reserve unmanned is less risky, plus they are supplemented by the Bay class LSDs so unless a huge invasion force is required we can manage with just one. upgrading QE's troop accommodation from 250 to 900 will happen, but isn't a high priority at the moment so probably in the early 2020s. Ocean goes in 2019, POW comes on line in 2019, in the gap between we'd just have to make do with what we have. Not ideal but the best we can do in the circumstances.View attachment 43992 View attachment 43993 View attachment 43994 View attachment 43995

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Obi Wan Russell said:

Reactivating a ship in peacetime and in wartime are two completely different things. In 1982 HMS Intrepid was in reserve, de stored, de fuelled and possibly awaiting sale (to Argentina!). No crew assigned, just a hulk. She was ready to sail for the South Atlantic in two weeks! Currently HMS Bulwark is the reserve LPD but if she was required for a major conflict an 8 month refit could be squeezed into just four weeks, so long as sufficient manpower (including reservists) could be assembled to make up her crew. View attachment 43999 With the carriers it's a different situation, keeping one unmanned and in mothballs just wouldn't work, too many specialist trades needed to keep the ship credible. This is relevant to earlier posts about the status of the USN's reserve carrier (very much a singular thing now Kitty Hawk is too be scrapped), keeping one 'on the books' may seem a sensible move, but realistically how much time would be required to bring such a ship forward from reserve to active duty? And in what circumstances? Kitty Hawk was reportedly in good material condition but JFK was 'Rode hard and put away wet' years ago. Best case scenario would see at least 18 months refitting to make her viable again, that's just dockyard time, not counting crew and air wing training, and I can't see that happening unless one of the active duty CVNs had been tragically lost in some kind of catastrophe. I hope the USN makes an effort to keep USS Nimitz in some sort of serviceable condition when she is decommissioned to maintain at least a credible reserve, which in all honesty I don't think JFK could be described as.View attachment 44000 View attachment 44001

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TURKEY IS INTERESTED IN BUYING SURPLUS USMC AV-8B HARRIERS

With F-35B production ramping up, the AV-8 Harrier is entering into the twilight of its service with the United States Marine Corps.

By most accounts, America’s Harrier fleet has quite a bit of life left in it, especially considering Pentagon picked up the UK’s entire fleet of 74 Harriers, many of which were very young, and all the spare parts that went with them, for cost of roughly 1.35 F-35Bs at today’s prices, or a paltry $177M.

As a result, large quantities of surplus Harriers and ample stocks of spare parts are likely to be put up for sale by the DoD in the coming years.

Considering the jet’s unique short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) abilities and its most recent upgrades—in the AV-8B+’s case this includes the ability to execute beyond-visual range air-to-air combat by employing the AIM-120 AMRAAM with their APG-65 radar sets—they represent an attractive and affordable acquisition opportunity for foreign air arms.

According to Jane’s, Turkey is interested in purchasing a number of these soon to be surplus jump-jets to serve as an interim capability before possibly executing an F-35B purchase. This would be in addition to their already sizable F-35A order of 100 airframes. Supposedly Ankara is eyeing somewhere around 20 F-35Bs, so procuring a similar amount of second-hand AV-8Bs makes sense, although we don’t know the exact number they are interested in at this time.

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