MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
UK without a fully operational aircraft carrier until 2030, says spending watchdog
Britain may be without a fully operational aircraft carrier until 2030, according to a report published by the Commons spending watchdog. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says two carriers being built will cost more, offer less military capability and be ready much later than planned. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesthis was a false report, the 2nd carrier will carry the new planes, not the first, you have to go to the site and read it properly,
Nov 30th, 2011 - 12:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0Agreed the report it is false. We wil still have one carrier ready by 2016-18 though no jets till 2020, though even then we will not have a full load of jets till 2030 from what i read.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 02:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0Though good news is we still have the harriers in mothball, and the engines are started up regularly still, just incase they need to be brought back into service. And although the aircraft carrier still in service is now a helicopter ship, the runway is still on it and the harrier can take off vertically with a partial weapons load out and land vertically. Which as a benefit of not being able to take of via use of the runway, atleats 6-7 harriers can take of at the exact same time instead of one at a time.
. Meanwhile, Janes' continues to report that Prince of Wales is the Strike Carrier.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 02:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0While Prince of Wales - the second of class for which manufacturing activities began in May 2011 - will be configured for CV operations from build, the advanced state of work on Queen Elizabeth has meant that the the retrofit of catapults and arrestor gear would be impractical without major disruption to the build program. Queen Elizabeth will therefor be completed in 2016 to the original STOVL configuration (minus ski-jump) and enter service to prove the platform, provide crew training and achieve rotary wing clearances. Queen Elizabeth will then enter a state of extended readiness around 2019 when Prince of Wales enters service.
July 7, 2011 - The NAO has published its Carrier Strike report, which proves the forecasts appeared on this blog right.
It is Prince of Wales that gets converted, and not Queen Elizabeth as many, press included, erroneously reported for a long time. QE will enter service as LPH in 2016, and also allow deck crew to familiarize with the carrier, and in 2020 PoW will enter service as Carrier Strike.
13 September 2011 - It is official: HMS Prince of Wales will be the Carrier Strike vessel, fitted at build with EMALS catapults. Liam Fox confirmed it speaking to Jane's in the run-up to the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition, held in London from 13-16 September.
“We now have a slot for the EMALS catapult system being fitted. It will be fitted first of all to the Gerald R Ford , then the next slot will be for the British carrier and the next slot will be for the American John F Kennedy carrier. So we've got that confirmed from the Americans now; the Americans have successfully tested it.”
It is now evident that QE will be completed as LPH, at least initially, and she's likely to represent the immediate solution to replace HMS Ocean, potentially as early as 2016
http://ukarmedforcescommentary.blogspot.com/p/future-force-2020-carrie
Still the Harrier Jets will be able to use her (HMS QE Carrier) if need be, which is good.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 04:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0I guess, through all the UK 'Labour Years', the social services had highest priority, the perceived threat level was 'low' and the need to move military provisioning forward was non-urgent.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 12:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Hence the run-down of the UK armaments, weaponry and manpower.
It must have been the same argument with the power station replacement programme, nuclear power, and a host of other programmes stalled during those dire years.
This Defence-Gap and this Energy-Gap are the inevitable result of unforgivably bad management of the nation during the 'tired years'.
We knew the gaps would come and that it would be dangerous, disabling and costly whilst they were present.
But best not to blame those trying to plug the gaps.
When the lights go out,
when the military return in body-bags for the sake of the right equipment,
use the right expletive -
“ ******* Labour!”
Carriers will no longer be so important in the South Atlantic. The Airbus Voyager MRTTs coming into service in 2012 can bring in a full load of troops and equipment as well as refuelling at least 4 Typhoons en route. Each Voyager can transport 300 troops and their equipment in addition to providing refuelling. Two flights and there will be twice as many troops and three times as many Typhoons. Isn't that good?
Nov 30th, 2011 - 01:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We wont even need aircraft carriers in the future with the Taranis UCAV program in development. They are intercontinental stealth cylon bombers that could be launched from the UK or any of our airbases around the world.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@5 Is it possible that there is world wide tendency to have smaller armed forces but better equiped and more professionalised. I think this is the reason for the changes in british defence. At first thought, as an argetinean thsi news made me happy, but then after I read some comments here i realised that perhaps there is a shift of paradigm in the way of thinking bristish defence resources. Seriously, I think your government is fully commited in keeping its armed forces healthy. Spending less doesn't mean spending bad. For example, if what Zool says is true, then why would you spend 6B pound to build a carrier when you can have airplanes launched from the UK at a cost of 80.000.000 pounds for each plane. This makes sense. Again, i am argentinean so I wont like it a thing when you finish the Taranis UCAV. What really concerns me now about global security is Iran, let's hope international pressure works for once.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 07:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No need for them.The reality uk IS FINISHED!!
Nov 30th, 2011 - 10:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0UK is FINISHED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbLfje8_jgI
Nice comments, JB. Thanks.
Nov 30th, 2011 - 10:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But I remain insecure with the unmanned Taranis programme and all those similar.
The disaster in Pakistan shows the risks countries take in 'unmanned' 'delivery systems'.
Of cousre they are not unmanned, its just that the huge squad of people are somewhere half way across the world, 'delivering' remotely.
The very remoteness seperates cause and effect, it distances the combatant from the fray and makes human judgement observational rather than involved.
I was similarly seriously disturbed by the 4 mile high B52 carpet bombing of the Ho Chi Min Trail and the thousands of square miles of farming communities.
The biblical 'bolt from the blue' does not endear the 'deliverers' to the local populations, and the switch to Taliban support in NW Pakistan may well be powerfully influenced by the 'war at a distance' tactics adopted by the US and UN allies.
Hearts and minds, minds and hearts.
well they used to say
Dec 01st, 2011 - 12:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0when the brits open fire,,the germans kept theire heads down
when the germans opend fire, the brits kept their heads down,
when the yanks opend fire, the whole world got its heads down.
just a thumping thought .
@8 The idea is not to put all your eggs in one basket & have a mixed fleet of both conventional fighter aircraft & UCAV's. Should war ever breakout & the Carriers sunk then the Taranis is designed to have intercontinental range but its years off being put into service with only the first prototype so far being built.
Dec 01st, 2011 - 10:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0Astute Class submarines! I rest my case.
Dec 01st, 2011 - 08:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ 13 you don't have any case...
Dec 02nd, 2011 - 01:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0#14 Are you an Argentinian operative xbox working in shifts? I say this because there are at least two distinct personalities here. This one, who can limit his/her view succinctly (even though I do not agree with it) and the other who rants on and spews out personal vitriol on every subject under the sun.
Dec 02nd, 2011 - 09:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0Or do you have a medical condition?
Chris,
Dec 02nd, 2011 - 11:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0I have asked these questions more than once.
I have had some insightful discussions on occasions with xbarilox (I),
but at other times it has been like talking with a bi-polar aggressive street-drunkard - xbarilox (II).
I like character (I), but 'hate' character (II).
#16
Dec 02nd, 2011 - 03:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks for that Geoff, I was beginning to wonder if it was me getting a bit sensitive after the obnoxious ‘two doses of Argentinean semen’ comment he / she made to me.
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