http://navy-matters.beedall.com/
This makes a lot of things clear!

Since when was it the plan to launch HMS QE as a Helicopter carrier for 3 years? That’s not what the SDSR said at all. He’s being a bit of a doom monger in his latest piece, not difficult in these fiscally tight times I guess.

That’s not what the MoD told me when I asked them, nor what parliament was told last week.

I have high respect for the analysis of Richard-Beedall
His last article contains some errors, it’s true :rolleyes:

I think (tell me if I’m wrong ?) that currently (unfortunately things will change again …:rolleyes:) both these aircraft-carriers must carry catapults, HMS Queen-Elizabeth will enter service +/- around 2020 and HMS Prince of Wales around +/- 2023, after some further delays to finalize catapults design, buy it and modify the carrier design…

But despite these errors, as a whole, he is right …

And I confess that my personal view is even more pessimistic …

[*]Modified comerical design, similar to what the PLAN did with its Type 920 hospital ship

Hi Phil,
For me, the “modified commercial” option was maybe the best cheaper and effective solution

Number ?
Hmmm, up to 4 ships because:
– Hospital and humanitarian ops were clearly “trendy”, and infortunatly:(, with a poverty expected to exist even trought the 21 st century in many country, I think that a specialized ship were very effective, but only affordable for the largest navy

– Number for US navy, up to 4 (this figure allow a reasonable number of 2 ships at sea, ready for any catastrophic event and ensure the US aid* around the world).

* A humanitaria aid mainly in central america, africa and in few asiatic/pacific country’s.

Great pictures for a [futur] great plane, better and more capable than the F-35:D

Amazing that on this forum, many people believe that this will be the first real flight of this aircraft. Gentlemen, let’s see
It is very likely that the aircraft has already made its first real flight in recent months. This current expected Takeoff will be only the first official

You really think the Chinese would take the risk of a first flight was filmed live by the fan-aviation community. You imagine the disaster if the plane crashed in the first take-off and it is filmed by fans, the shame would be immense for the country. Same for the Russian PAK FA (the plane had take-off well before)

In addition it is a military aircraft! :rolleyes:
No, for me this J-20 Chinese already taken-off for weeks at least 😀

Hmmm, beautiful newer figther-bomber. Maybe mass-built by 2015/2020…

The way the RAF is acting, DO NOT be surprised if they start pushing for a change to the “A” model with the argument that it will save money and get more capability.

Highly probable,
But this “turn-choice” = “end of british carrier based naval aviation”
Wait & See by 2011/late 2015 (up to 6+ months after the next british general elections:rolleyes:).
🙁

She is going to be fitted with cats and traps. It was pretty much confirmed she is going to be the operative carrier. Questions remain on if Prince of Wales will be kitted out as well or not. However, even if she’ll be a “Carrier Strike”, it will actually work as carrier + LPH.

Most of the time, it will embark 12 F35C (hopefully), 4 MASC (hopefully), plus Royal Marines, helicopters from the Commando Helicopter Force, army visitors Chinook and Apache, and such. We are looking forwards more to a US-Marines style LHA than a real Carrier Strike platform.

Yep,
I agree totally

It is hard to imagine a cancellation of the F35B… But it sure isn’t having an easy life, and the proposals to kill it… well. They are too many and too frequent to be counted, already, and this new, nasty find is going to be the hardest blow to the programme from when the B variant failed to meet its range and payload requirements and the Weapon Bays had to be shortened.

By the way, Reading Navy News of November, you make some interesting discovers, too:

HMS Illustrious and HMS Ocean apparently will both survive for now. One will be “active” but the other won’t be decommissioned, but put into extended readiness “until Queen Elizabeth enters service.”

Considering that HMS Illustrious soon will come out of refit, i think the plan might be to have Lusty serving for a year or so as Commando carrier, while Ocean undergoes her own 2011 Refit as planned. When Ocean comes back into service, Lusty will be put in extended readiness, and finally written off when Queen Elizabeth goes operative.
This based on the fact that HMS Ocean is undoubtedly “the better platform for helicopter assault operations” (you don’t need a study to know that, anyway…) and its OSD was reported being 2022 in Minister’s responses in 2008 or 2009, with a OSD for Illustrious of 2016.
One has to hope that, although Ocean is not aging as well as we’d like because of how she was built, the OSD was planned with considerations on the state of the two ships.

500 Royal Marines are going to be lost in the next five years.

ALL Sea Kings, and it includes the ASaC specifically, will bow out within 2016.
I highly doubt MASC will come that soon, so we are probably going to see a gap of four years at best before an AEW platform for the new carrier is acquired.
Just as i had imagined.
No idea of what will replace the Junglies.
In the interests of the Navy and Marines, and for the future of the LPH itself, i suggest finding the pennies and take the 8 not-updated Merlin HM1 and the 4 storage airframes, remove sonars and everything from them and put seats for Marines into them. 12 Merlin, fully navalized, to transport marines, to equip a single Squadron absorbing the current HC4 formations, to be able to equip the LPH before the UK is left in the laughable position of having not just carriers without planes but amphibs without helos too.

For the MASC, in time, the Hawkeye can be considered again and hopefully funded. It is not much a matter for choice, after all (that’s easy done) but of getting funding. First Sea Lord please take note, and exploit the Frenchies and the climate of “collaboration wanted” to get something nice for once!

The SAR work seems to be going away from the MOD and towards the Ministry for Transports, so hopefully the money for the new choppers will also come from civvys, and not from the MOD…
Of course though, this means that RAF and Royal Navy are going out of the SAR business by 2016, with closure of squadrons such as 203 RAF. Fate of 84 Squadron (SAR for RAF in Cyprus with Bell 212) is at this point even more uncertain, and the two Sea King SAR in the Falklands also are a mystery. Will they be replaced? How?
And is it feasible to have a Navy and Air Force totally out of the SAR work…?
Almost every one (hell, even Italy’s Air Force) by now has a squadron of choppers for C-SAR duty. RAF and RN… nothing.
Another thing that, like the loss of Nimrod, makes eyebrows arch.

A 2018 date for retirement of Sandown and Hunt is indicated, but i will say myself that they will undoubtedly serve MANY more years in reality. (no money to seek replacements, that is)

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark will “alternate” in High Readiness (and Flagship role, until the CVF arrives). Bulwark is coming out of its refit, so we can safely assume that the current flagship HMS Albion is goint into “very low readiness” as Navy News tells, as soon as Bulwark is back in service.
HMS Albion would come back into action the next time Bulwark will be out for refit, alternating into service and reserve.
For now, HMS Albion is the Flagship of the navy, and recently staged exercise Wet Raider, interesting because the PACSCAT prototype landing craft was used in the exercise and thus tested very hard. The Marines are reportedly very happy of it, and it handled the Vicking vehicles as planned.
The PACSCAT is going to be tested at Instow soon to see how it handles the Challenger II.

My personal comment is that, if 10 PACSCAT can be acquired (LCU MK11?) to equip training unit, Albion and Bulwark, the 10 LCU MK10 can cover the Bay LSD(A) and push finally out of service the remaining LCU MK9, also those used by the Royal Logistic Corps.
I hope the PACSCAT story does not end in misery because of the damn budget…

One Bay class LSD(A) is, as we know, bowing out.
Why can’t Uk quietly follow the italian example for once and use part of the “International Aid” budget to keep the amphibs going…? Here the Navy gets money to build amphibs from the Aid Department since they are the vessels that are then used to bring help to disaster-struck locations and such.
Can’t the UK Department of Aid “adopt” Largs Bay…? 😀 It is such a shame to lose her…

Similarly, here projects such as the F35 procurement are not financed just my the Ministry of Defence: Italy’s government finances such programmes (Typhoon too, and many others) with Industry Support funds in light of the great effect such programmes have on High Technology industry and because of how many jobs they create…
That’s how Italy’s ministry of defence buys so much good kit despite the Military Budget being surprisingly small.

Time for Liam Fox to get inventive and fight for a share of money for his department too. 😀 Instead of paying for SAR helos that the military will never touch and that will work (and gain visibility every time someone is saved) for the Ministry of Transports…

Interesting opinion…