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
Well now that the Olympics are over (and congratulations to Team GB on their successes and the entertainment they have provided us) I think we, the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier Project, can justifiably argue that we are now the biggest engineering project in the Country. Certainly it feels that way when you look at the giant ship taking shape in the build dock at Rosyth. Visibly a lot has changed since the start of Dock Cycle B in June. Was it only three months ago that the dock was briefly empty of any parts of the ship during the docking sequence of Lower Block 02 and Super Block 03? That seems a long while ago now.
The transition from being a large dock with two large unconnected structures within it to becoming a very large ship in a dry dock really happened while I took some summer leave. The visual effect of skidding Super Block 03 up to Lower Block 02, and particularly craning the lower bow section of Block 01 into the dock, is stunning. I returned from leave to see what is clearly recognisable as a very large ship, and as the upper sections of Centre Block 02 are progressively loaded out on top of Lower Block 02 it just gets bigger and bigger. You can see time-lapse video of the skidding process here.
The skidding of the 12000 tonne Super Block 03 some 90 metres along the dock bottom to butt up to Lower Block 02 was a considerable feat of engineering that I was sorry to have missed. The whole operation went very well and was accomplished in a shorter time than many of us had expected. I am told that the alignment achieved between the centreline of the two blocks was about 1mm. I don’t think I was very popular when I suggested the skidding should be reversed and tried again to get it spot on!
Seriously, the fit-up between all the blocks that have been erected thus far has been fabulous, especially when you consider that the individual blocks have been constructed in six different shipyards around the country, and the design engineering carried out in five locations and using two different CAD tools. A great deal of effort had gone into ensuring that the alignment would be good, so it is no surprise but it is very satisfying to see it come to fruition.
Attention is now turning to the next big Block Transportation of Lower Block 04 from Govan, on the River Clyde, to Rosyth on the Forth. As well as being the largest block transported this is also probably the most awkward, as the shape of it, including the after cut up, means that it will naturally float with a very significant trim by the stern. This will be corrected by the use of solid and liquid ballast and the construction of a buoyancy tank within the support structure at the aft end of the block.
There have been a steady stream of visitors of varying degrees of importance to Rosyth wanting to look at the evolving ship and to be taken for a tour around it. The visitors are nearly all surprised by the scale of the ship and the extent of progress from the outside, but it is really once they have been taken for a tour inside the ship that they become most impressed. Standing with a visitor in one of the Auxiliary Machinery Spaces the other day, the visitor looked at the machinery, the runs of piping, the ventilation trunking and the cabling and said “but this compartment is finished!” and with a bit of tidying up it is; moreover, there are several other spaces at a similar level of completion.
Away from Rosyth the systems that will allow the ship to come alive are continuing to be developed. At the shore test facility at Cowes on the Isle of Wight the prototype pole mast has been hoisted back into position, now with a complete set of antenna fitted and system functional integration of these antenna with the other Mission Systems is progressing together with experiments on electro-magnetic and mutual interference. I look forward to seeing that when next I visit Cowes.
There will be a high degree of automation in the control of the aircraft carriers’ machinery and systems provided by the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS). which is being developed by L3 Communications. This is a software-based system that combines machinery and equipment control and surveillance with electrical power management and damage surveillance and control. Using a number of distributed processors around the ship connected by the its Local Area Network, the IPMS supports the control and monitoring of machinery and equipment to be conducted from a number of workstations located throughout the ship in the ship control centre, the bridge, the operations room and also the damage control section bases. The extent of control possible from each workstation depends on the clearance of the individual user rather than the location of the workstation. This ensures that there is a common view of data right across the ship, which is particularly important in a damage control situation.
Software integration of the IPMS is taking place at the shore integration facility (SIF) located near Filton in Bristol where it is close to the machinery suppliers, the MoD customer and parts of the QEC project team.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the SIF and seeing the final stages of factory acceptance tests taking place on the first drop of software, which will shortly be delivered to the ship and installed on the ship’s hardware. The SIF is populated with hardware which is destined for the second ship and a number of off the shelf computers which represent the workstations fitted on the ship. They are located in the SIF in a manner that replicates the control centre on board ship. While at the SIF I was able to see the Human Computer Interface through which control and monitoring will be carried out and had a demonstration of the damage surveillance and control software. The latter provides a degree of utility that is far advanced from the traditional use of incident state boards marked up with chinagraph pencils.
Delivery of this first drop of software to the ship is a significant event, achieved on the planned date, which is a credit to all those who have worked on the IPMS and will play a significant part in bringing the ship to life over the coming months.
Just brilliant! The Olympics taught us that this country can still deliver a world class event with all that goes into it. Equally, the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers are shaping up to demonstrate that with people like David Downs at the ACA, this country can still deliver world class engineering projects. Keep up the good work, one and all!
Great feat of engineering! However still not convinced this is the right type of weapon system for future conflicts/deployments. For large conflict work its way to vulnerable to attack and there are only two of them. For smaller localised conflicts then it’s too much of a resource tied up in one place.
Plus there is the risk that large carriers are going to be outdated as manned aircraft are replaced with ever more sophisticated long range drones that are going to outperform manned aircraft in air to air or air to ground work.
The one real benefit is as a mobile physical presence, for example the Falklands
But guessing the future of warfare is a tricky one especially with limited resources!
We need them and we need them badly as has been proved in every conflict since WWII without an organic Air Support in Naval Offensive operations the only Air Support that you will need is in your lifejacklet!!
I must say I have conflicting feelings about this ship, especially as I’m a Clydesider and witnessed the sad demise of ship building and the attendant de-skilling of the population. I do believe that a nations ability to defend itself is wholly reliant on engineering, but I can’t help but think that the resources being poured into this ship would be better spent on other engineering projects with commercial value. The arguments may be that there will be commercial spin-offs but these will be outweighed by the massive costs of running what is essentially an unnecessary (for GB) offensive weapon.
At the same time, I take pride in my nation, the history of the RN and all our service personnel, so conflicted like I say!
The RN no longer has the resources or manpower to operate large aircraft carriers. The QE/F35B package will have very limited capability in relation to cost and has resulted in a chronic loss of critical mass. Far better to have spent the money (~ £8 billion for the ships, double that for ships+aircraft!) on more destroyers/frigates/SSNs and a pair of 30,000 ton helicopter/UCAV carriers.
i think these two carriers are badly needed but i also think we should build a third with cat and traps and a minimum of 36 f35s on board each carrier.we still have committments around the world to service. .2 on duty 1 in dock makes sense id say
These vessels are classic example of what British Engineering is capable of, they are the largest warships built outside of North America. I for one will be extremely proud to see these badly needed carriers in service, and I just hope the government will have the sense to ensure thay have a suitably sized air group!!
To David Downs and all at the ACA I would just like to say what an amazing job you are doing for this country. (Give that man a knighthood). I believe we do need these ships badly. I also believe that the expertise being shown in this programme needs to be turned to commercial use. If we were able to get even a small percentage of worlds large commercial ship building back into this island nation the economic benefits could be used to help build a bigger more balanced RN and even and even the Merchant Navy. I am not talking about some nostalgia trip here, many things are cyclical and re-establishing some degree of high quality commercial ship building in the UK is beginning to look like a good idea both strategically and economically.
Good luck to all, I can’t wait to see these vessels entering Portsmouth with the White Ensign flying.
Relieved and sad…that we still have the engineering skill and capability to build such things–sad that it has to be a project with no value to us what-so ever. Why aren’t we making things that other people want? Silly question, Mrs Thatcher saw to that, end of apprenticeships et al, quote, “we can be a service industry….”. Ipswich saw the end of all four of it’s large engineering firms, employing hundreds of skilled workers, under her government. What are they doing now? Stacking shelves in the warehouses which now cover the sites, probably. Cocksedges, Ransomes & Rapiers, Reavals…all gone
Lovely vessel…a shame it is a floating petrol store…one missile and everyone is burnt dead. Remember the Falklands ? They should have used a small nuclear reactor for power….much more difficult to secure a direct hit and easier to armour from missiles. Obvious really.
Congratulations to David Downs and the ACA for the progress being made with these two ships. Forget the past, the missed opportunities could drive one mad. Look at the future, the most overcrowded island in the world with no natural resources, everything depending on sea transport!! Our country in twenty years time is what matters.
Good to see that they are well under construction.but we need another one to ensure that we always have one ready.2 is not enough! We ought to have gone for the CTOL option -much better.
We also need a fixed wing AEW aircraft something like the Viking.
But overall it is an exellent design.
Great to see this ship taking shape. I am wondering if in the future, say 20 years hence, it would be possible to slip in a new mid section making them nuclear powered? I am impressed with their propulsion system as is but am aware the cost of fuel is going to be an important factor.
I have always wondered why they never lengthened the Nelson class battleships to increase horsepower and speed.
Why can’t they extend the flight decks to the American carriers length as the Queen Elizabeth class looks as if they’ve been cut off short. The usual British bean counting mentality. They’ll probably be sold off by the sea blind politicians anyway…
I do have grave doubts about this project. The financial where with all to sustain it, its use, and its one huge target to hit. A folly.