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Future Aircraft Carrier project moves to next phase as assembly plans are agreed
Published Wednesday 14th December 2005


Defence Secretary John Reid has announced a series of major developments in MoD's multi-billion pound programme to build a new class of aircraft carrier for Britain's Armed Forces today, 14 December 2005.

The key developments - which together will provide our Forces with the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK - include:

The current carrier Alliance team of MoD, BAE Systems, Thales and KBR, is to be joined by VT Group and Babcock.

Plans for the construction and assembly of the ships at Alliance members' yards have been agreed.

MoD is to spend some £300M to develop the design of the ships to the point at which manufacturing can begin.

Commitment to some long-lead items for the ships will be made, where necessary, to maintain the programme.

It is also planned to explore, with the same companies, encompassing in-service support for the new carriers and the existing carriers through to their out of service dates.

Mr Reid said:

"These are major steps forward for the future carrier project. Work will now commence on finalising the delta design, which will ultimately provide the UK Armed Forces with the largest and most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK, and an expeditionary capability unparalleled outside of the US.

"As part of today's announcement, I am allocating some 60% of the ships' construction to named UK yards: BAE Systems at Govan and Barrow; VT in Portsmouth and Babcock in Rosyth. I can also confirm final assembly of both carriers will be at Rosyth.

"At the same time there is a substantial opportunity for the involvement of other UK shipyards in the remaining parts of the build programme that will be open to competition. This could go well beyond traditional shipbuilders since the project will use modern modular production techniques.

"We will now work with industry to finalise the programme budget; to set a construction timetable and establish in-service dates; to ratify how the ships will be supported through a service life of up to 50 years; and to ensure that our detailed requirements are met. Together with the parallel design work, this means that when we come to commit to the manufacture of the project we can do so with the highest degree of confidence and certainty in our plans.

"Alongside this, I am announcing our intention of asking the alliance to put forward one integrated plan: not only to maintain the new carriers but to look after the existing carriers until they go out of service. By getting the same people to commit to maintain the existing carriers until the new ones are ready to go we will ensure there is a continuity of capability for the Royal Navy.

"This project is a key to the Defence Industrial Strategy and marks the end to the 'boom and bust' industrial cycle. The introduction of a managed and steady work stream will allow industry to plan efficiently and to retain the highly skilled workforce that has contributed to the fine tradition of shipbuilding in this country. In addition, this project will sustain and create some 10,000 UK jobs around the country."

For the Future Aircraft Carrier project (also known as the "Carrier, Vehicular, Future" or CVF project) the "Main Gate" approval - a stage of the MOD's procurement process which must be fulfilled before projects can move to manufacture - has been split into two incremental steps. Today's announcement marks the movement of the project through the first step, from the MOD's assessment phase into the demonstration phase. This next phase of design work will further remove risk from the project and give greater understanding of projected costs, allowing Ministry of Defence to make its main investment decision in confidence. At that time, the MOD will be able to announce the expected programme costs and "in-service" dates for the new ships.

From a range of proposed designs for the new carriers, the adaptable design labelled "Design Delta" has been selected. When the ships are built, they will be fitted with a ski-jump to operate short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft. However, the design can be altered later in the ships' service life, for example to accommodate catapults and arrestor gear to fly conventional carrier aircraft. This is future-proofing for a class of ship expected to have a 50-year life.

The new class of carriers will be much larger than the Royal Navy's existing "Invincible" class carriers. It is currently estimated that the new class will have a displacement (weight) of 65,000 tonnes, will be 280m long and 70m wide, and have a draught (the depth of water needed to float the ship) of 9m. The ships' complement will be around 1500 all-told, including the Joint Force Air Group (JFAG) who will support and fly the embarked aircraft. Each ship will carry about 40 aircraft (Joint Combat Aircraft, Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control system, and Merlin helicopters).

Plans for the construction and assembly of the ships in yards owned by members of the new expanded Alliance include hull block 4 at BAES Govan, block 3 at BAES Barrow, block 2 at VT Group Portsmouth, and the bow (block 1) and final assembly at Babcock Rosyth, all subject to value-for-money and cost-effectiveness considerations. This work is some 60% of the overall build. Substantial elements of the remainder of the ship super-structure are to be competed for by other shipyards and manufacturing facilities.

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New aircraft carriers wll overtake Charles de Gaulle as Europe's largest warships.

   

Very cool-looking piece of kit. And huge!

Might'nt this be overkill?

   

Actualy It'll probably the F-35 JSF VTOL. For the fact that it'll cost less than the F-22.

   

There is no kill like overkill!

   

The UK licenced the F22 framing tech and it will give them a huge lead over the Eurofighter when they go into production on it.

   

I heard that Canada is considering purchasing F-35 JSF's for the future.....

   

   

Still, our new carriers will be small compared to the American Nimitz class carriers, which are the largest warships in the world.

And the US has TWELVE carriers.

   

Large doesn't necessarily mean better. I'm sure the American military could attest to that.

   

CVN-77 will be launched 2008 and replace the last 2 Kitty Hawks

Plans for CVX range from a conservative modified-Nimitz design to a speedy stealth platform.

   

The Iraqi military can, too. Except that the US military wiped them out twice and both times in less than three weeks.

Our military is just fine when they're doing what they do best: breaking things and killing people.

It's when fuckwits ask the military to be police officers and humanitarians that we fall short and that's because we're NOT POLICE OFFICERS OR HUMANITARIANS.

The most humanitarian thing I ever did in the military was consistently kill my targets on the first shot.

   

I was out west one time in Victoria when the USS Nimitz took port there.. ..and I tell ya.. That thing is massive... everything around it was absolutely dwarfed by it. They have their own postal codes as I understand it.

   

Esquimalt harbour being kind of small really makes the US carriers look huge in a way they don't when in San Diego or San Francisco (not much carrier traffic into SF Bay any more). I recall it was the Carl Vinson I saw there at Esquimalt some years ago and it just dominated the harbour.

   

I'm also sure that all the tsunami victims would be very thankfull that much power projection could be so close by, so quickly. It's probably going to get bigger too, because of the sea basing plans.
Anybody know where we misplaced the Bonaventure?

   

Yep...

The "Bonnie" was commissioned at Belfast on January 17, 1957, and arrived at Halifax on June 26, carrying on deck an experimental hydrofoil craft that was to serve in the development of HMCS Bras d’Or. Unlike her predecessors, BONAVENTURE had Banshee jet fighters and Tracker A/S aircraft as her complement. Like them, she enjoyed a busy career of flying training and participation in A/S and tactical exercises with ships of other NATO nations. What was expected to be her mid-life refit, carried out from 1966 to 1967, took 16 months and cost over $11 Million. This cost proved to be too high for Canada's Navy, as she was paid off in 1970, and sold for scrap.

   

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