How long to redesign CVF to take EMAL/EMCAT?
Converteams EMCAT system is apparently well advanced, does anyone know if they are actualy in the position of being able to launch aircraft this year as has been suggested?
Will a redesign require the contract for the ships to be rewritten and will this allow the gov the loop hole they need to wriggle out of building these ships?
By: kev 99 - 26th October 2010 at 10:29
Why discuss it? CVF will NOT be an aircraft carrier. It will be a hospital ship.
Based on what?
By: Bager1968 - 26th October 2010 at 08:36
1. Not long. Just detail wiring diagrams to be drawn up principally. The structure is already designed to accept the Catapults and Arrestor engines. If it takes more than six months to do the redesign work someone in the drawing office is swinging the lead.
No, they would need the specific dimensions, weights, and stress forces for that… all that is in the existing detail design specifications and drawings are large empty spaces set aside in the locations where the catapults and arresting gear would go.
Detailed design work won’t be able to proceed until the decisions have been made as to which catapults and which arresting gear will be installed, and until the design of those components is far enough advanced to deliver those definite dimensions & weights.
Right now the catapult choice seems to be between EMALS and EMCAT (no full-scale version designed yet) for the catapults, and between AAG, the current Mk 7 mod 3 hydraulic arresting gear (in USN CVNs), and some revival of the DAX II arresting gear that McTaggart-Scott built for HMS Ark Royal R09 in the late 1960s.
AAG = Advanced Arresting Gear… to replace the current arresting gear in CVN-68 class aircraft carriers as well as for all new USN CVN construction.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/navy/ntsp/aage-i_2002.pdf
http://atg.ga.com/EM/defense/aag/index.php
By: Geoff_B - 26th October 2010 at 07:53
Actually they will need to decide what systems they are going to put in first, whilst they have a fair idea what holes need to be cut in the deck to accomodate the catapult tracks and the Arrestor wires along with the extenions to the angled deck, they don’t actually know what systems are going to be out in there.
Whilst they are funding the Emcat technology demonstrator, they have also paid for access to the new USN kit. Are the UK developments a contingency plan in case the USN ones prove too expensive/flawed or is it buy British and hope they have the systems working before need to start building them into the ships ?.
It may well take another 6-12 mths for them to make their choice and sign the contracts for production units before the carriers can be suitably redesigned to fully fit the new hardware.
Interesting question on electomagnetic cats as they intended to be more efficient and less brutal in the acceleration, do they still need to be 90m in length or would 75m suffice ? Just wondered as this may effect the layout and flight deck ops as a result
By: 19kilo10 - 26th October 2010 at 01:58
Why discuss it? CVF will NOT be an aircraft carrier. It will be a hospital ship.
By: Obi Wan Russell - 25th October 2010 at 16:51
1. Not long. Just detail wiring diagrams to be drawn up principally. The structure is already designed to accept the Catapults and Arrestor engines. If it takes more than six months to do the redesign work someone in the drawing office is swinging the lead.
2. Not yet. If given the actual contract for the ship’s cats, they will draw up a schedule to fit with the build program.
3. No rewriting of contracts required. Coversion to CATOBAR was always an option in the existing contract. If there was a way for the weasels to weasel their way out of the contract they would have done it by now. 😎
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October 25, 2010 at 2:08 pm