Guest blogger
ACA Engineering Director
David is employed by BAE Systems, and is responsible for all the engineering work being carried out on the QE Class programme. Previously, he was design manager for HMS Ocean, Albion and Bulwark, and was chief engineer on the Type 45 Destroyer programme.
I would like to start by wishing a Happy New Year to everyone who reads this.
A great deal has happened since my last blog, not least the announcement of the Strategic Defence and Security Review that work on the build of both the new aircraft carriers will continue. This is very good news for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the Royal Navy and the approximately 10,000 jobs in the UK which depend on the Carrier programme. The SDSR also announced that the UK will be procuring the more capable Carrier Variant (CV) of the F 35 aircraft instead of the Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) version. This is, in my personal opinion, good news, but does result in alteration of the aircraft carrier design, which contains adaptability to accommodate the new aircraft launch system equipment, including catapults, jet blast deflectors and arrestor wires together with the associated below deck equipment and changes to the mission system.
While engineering the fitting of this equipment to the ships, the first of which is well into production, is no small challenge, our engineers and designers are already working hard to ensure that when we deliver the ships we will ultimately have the best and most capable solution.
Meanwhile the six shipyards working on production of the ships are continuing to press on with construction of Queen Elizabeth. The Lower Blocks are the massive sections that make up the hull of the ships and both Lower Blocks 03 at Govan and 02 in Portsmouth are now structurally complete up to four deck, the hangar deck, and three deck in the outboard areas. I can tell you it is a very long way down to the floor of the build hall from up there! When walking on the hangar deck being almost up amongst the crane rails gives a novel and different perspective to the build halls. At A&P Tyne the upper units of Centre Block 03 are structurally complete from the flight deck down to three deck, so virtually all the structure is built around the centre sections of the ship. On Valentine’s Day this year, the after ring of Lower Block 03 (LB03) will be moved around to align with the remainder of LB03 and combining together will commence, which is all proceeding towards shipping LB03 from Govan which will be the first block to enter the build dock in Rosyth later this year.
Combination of the two lower blocks making up the lower part of the bow of the ship is well advanced on the dock side at Rosyth and with the prominent bulbous bow this structure now resembles something like an enormous boot! The one remaining Lower Block, LB05, right at the aft end, and comprising the steering gear compartment and rudders, has commenced construction at Portsmouth recently, with the Commander of the Naval Base, Commodore Rob Thompson doing the honours and officially starting production. This lower block will be constructed and shipped to Rosyth in four units so that each is of a weight that will allow them to be lifted and lowered into the build dock by the Goliath Crane. The rudders themselves and the rudder horns and hull inserts have been constructed in Rosyth and are also now nearing completion.
The Goliath Crane for the build dock has been constructed in China and is currently on board a ship en route to Rosyth. As I write this the ship is in the Atlantic, heading north and is expected to arrive at Rosyth in late February. On arrival the ship will berth across the entrance to the build dock and then a very interesting transition will occur. The main beam of the crane will be jacked up, while it remains on the ship, the legs will be installed at each end and then the complete structure wheeled from the ship onto the crane rails by the dock. Installation of the Goliath Crane will be a highly visible indication of progress with the build of Queen Elizabeth and will make a significant difference to the Fife skyline. The crane will be commissioned during the spring and early summer months and will be used to install the first of the upper blocks onto the lowers before the end of the year.
2011 looks like being a very interesting year for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance and its suppliers, so to keep up to date with what is happening you may also wish to visit our website – www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk
Interesting, but retrofits of catapults, arrestors etc doesn’t sound like a great leap into the future, more a step 40+ years backwards.
Could the redesign have included procuring some aircraft to operate? I realise that the notion of having a flight of aircraft aboard a carrier is currently controversial but I can’t help feeling it would be a move in the right direction.
aircraft carriers take a lot longer to build than aircraft and you can always lease F18s or Rafales while waiting on F35s – please note the Italians did a lease of F16s to cover the gap between F104s and Typhoons and so can you
Seems a shame we had to buy a crane from China.
Why not build a new batch of updated Harriers? Might never need the F?? then.
@ alex gafford
Stop making sense, mate. The UK public are raised cynical by our ferocious media. Independent thought is a definite no-no.
If the Mail says so it must be true!
It’s a shame that Government reshuffles fuel the need to dabble with these long-term projects, causing delay & cost overrun. They will then discuss the extra cost & delays as if these were caused by external forces!
Back in 81 I was serving about the USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN-69), the second of the Nimitz class carriers. During the NATO wargames we had a few counterparts from HMS Invincible onboard and took them up to watch flight operations. They were amazed by the speed with which we could launch and recover aircraft with catapults and arresting gear compared to the Harrier. A Harrier comes in, hovers for a while and slowly descends… a Tomcat hit the deck doing over 100 miles an hour. With 4 catapults running simultaneously operations go much faster.
The Hermes and Invincible were also limited to the Sea Harrier, basically an attack aircraft. By contrast we were flying air superiority fighters (Tomcats), attack planes (A-6 and A-7), antisubmarine aircraft (S-3), radar early warning (E-2C), refuelling aircraft (KA-6), electronic warfare (EA-6B and EA-2), light cargo (C-2) plus the usual variety of helicopters. As I recall, a couple of French fighters dropped in for a visit. You can guess as to the relative range of duties the conventional and Harrier carriers could manage.
A VTOL aircraft like the Harrier or F-35 is certainly nice, but the payload is going to be restricted. Obviously less weight can be hoisted into the air by directing thrust downwards than can be suspended with wings, and if you have a catapult to provide the initial thrust rather than depending solely on the aircrafts internal capacity, things are that much better.
All in all, I’d say the Royal Navy is building the right ship. The conventional carrier can handle many more missions and generally even does a better job even at the missions Harrier carriers are built for.
I strongly agree with the change from VSTOL to CATOBAR. VSTOL aircraft are limited in their mass lifting capability and mass return ability by their engine power. CATOBAR is definitely not a “backward step”. The Cats will have to be Electromagnetic – linear motors – due to the lack of boilers, which is a huge technological leap forward. The cable traps are older but nonetheless reliable. I cannot see why this should be a backward step. If anything, moving to fully fledged, cats-n-traps carriers is a return to full naval air power. The F35C is cheaper than the B variant, and more powerful, faster and longer range! This capability also allows full naval joint ops with our powerful allies, i.e. the US, who can therefore land and take off from them. So suggest this is a backward step seems naive.
My biggest complaint about the program is the lack of regular updates on the ACA website. There appears to have been almost no progress since mid last year, when it was launched. If one was to look at the website, one would think that the QE is just a few bits of mild steel on the shop floor. I tried emailing them to ask for an update to pictures, newsletters etc, but nothing has happened. Proper information would help the program enormously, and would keep people, like me, who are interested from a technical and tax paying point of view, placated. Sadly, the site seems to have been forgotten about.
Apart from that minor grumble, Mr Downs, thanks for the update. Most interesting.
Interesting to see we are going back to the old way of launching aircraft but are the catapaults going to be steam opearated or, like the new USA builds, Electro Magnetic?.
Bill, they’ll have to be Electromagnetic, because the ships will be combined diesel / electric and gas turbine / electric. They’ll produce around 160000shp, if I converted it right, or 80MW of power, but there will be no high pressure steam, so their catapults will be electromagnetic.
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