The UK Royal Navy has high hopes that its proposed new carriers will give the service more flexibility. But is its optimism justified?
The UK Royal Navy has provided new details of the design characteristics and operational capabilities expected of its two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVF), for which a manufacturing contract could be placed this year.
The UK Ministry of Defence in January 2003 opted to study an alliance with industry to design and manufacture two adaptable carriers to be capable initially of operating short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft, but with the potential to eventually deploy conventional carrierborne aircraft. Now in an extended assessment phase under contracts with the joint BAE Systems/Thales Aircraft Carrier Alliance team, the CVF project has reached around 65% concept design maturity - a level unmatched in previous maritime procurements, according to programme sources.
While the MoD maintains that the design and size of the CVF has still to be finalised and that no development contract has yet been agreed, senior navy officials say there is now no opportunity to cut the vessel's size to accommodate only STOVL aircraft. Doing so at such an advanced stage would add to programme costs and reduce operational capability, they say, adding that future requirements could also emerge for conventionally launched and recovered aircraft. Modifying the two adaptable vessels later will incur only a limited conversion cost, the navy says.
Future plans
Expected to displace around 60,000t each, the CVFs lie at the heart of the RN's future air expeditionary plans and will each be capable of deploying an aviation component of around 50 aircraft, including up to 36 future Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) - Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Current assumptions call for the CVFto have a 280m (918ft) -long flight deck with a width of 69m, providing a STOVL deck space of 1.62Ha (4 acres). Each vessel will be capable of hangaring 20 JCAs in individual maintenance "boxes", or a maximum of up to 24, plus spares, with the aircraft also capable of being deployed ashore for operations.
Planned utilisation rates are expected to allow each aircraft to fly twice a day, giving each CVF a maximum sortie generation of up to 360 flights over a five-day period, with a surge rate to take this as high as 396, says Capt Chris Palmer, the RN's deputy assistant chief of staff aviation. Other aircraft to be deployed on the CVF will include six AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin HM1 anti-submarine warfare helicopters and four future Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control aircraft.
Other airborne assets expected to come aboard include Boeing CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters and unmanned air vehicles, possibly including a future unmanned combat air vehicle, the navy says. Early operations will also involve the Westland Sea King ASaC7 airborne surveillance and control aircraft and BAE Systems Harrier GR9/9A combat aircraft. Each carrier will hold enough ammunition, fuel and spares to sustain five days of surge operations, with its support vessel to carry sufficient supplies for a further 28 days of sustained operations.
Describing his vision for RN operations beyond 2012, Vice Adm Charles Style, Commander UK Maritime Force, says the CVF will contribute flexible global reach and power projection and a theatre-entry capability to UK operations. "I absolutely believe this is a very relevant and important capability," he says. The new vessels will build on the navy's recent experience in adapting the use of its current Invincible class CVS aircraft carriers for a variety of roles, including maritime strike, command and control (C2) and being re-roled as a helicopter carrier. Other duties envisaged for the vessels could include peace enforcement, humanitarian assistance and force protection, while their use will also remove concerns over future foreign basing and overflight rights, the navy says.
Noting the 24h role change needed for HMS Illustrious to deploy seven Chinooks for operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, Style says activities in support of special forces and Royal Marine personnel are likely to grow in demand over the coming years. Unlike the UK's current carriers, the CVF will also be able to hangar the Chinook.
Air management
The navy believes the CVF will have great utility in mirroring the US Navy's current maritime strike model or in specialising as a C2 platform, although Palmer notes that the ship must be specifically configured for either task and will not perform both duties simultaneously. A new air management organisation now in use aboard HMS Illustrious will be central to the maritime strike role, with this drawing on experience from training at the UK's Air Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington and the navy's Maritime Warfare School.
The maritime strike mission will see commanders aboard the CVF draw up forward air plans for a period of 24-72h, with future exercises of the navy's current CVS ships planned to improve the service's proficiency in conducting such duties. A task group headed by HMS Illustrious left the UK last week for a three-month series of exercises in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions under a deployment dubbed "Marstrike 05". The carrier will deploy an air group of Sea Harrier FA2s, Harrier GR7s and Sea King ASaC7s for the manoeuvres, which will include a combined exercise with the French, Omani and US navies.
Navy officials concede that the £3 billion ($5.6 billion) CVF project will be a massive drain on RN and MoD spending, but argue that the service will be able to achieve substantially more with one of two CVFs at any one time than it can now achieve using two of its three CVS vessels. In addition to the programme's cost, a further challenge for the MoD and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance will be to agree and meet a 2012 in-service date for the first CVF ship, given the build time required for the navy's first of class Type 45 destroyer - a project that is around 18 months late.
Getting ready for the JSF
With the UK to retire its last BAE Systems Sea Harrier FA2 air defence aircraft in March 2006, the Royal Navy will face a gap of over six years before it embarks the UK's first future Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) - Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The availability of the transformational combat aircraft is scheduled to coincide with the entry into service in 2012 of the navy's first of two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVF), each of which will embark up to 36 of the fighters.
Before the arrival of the JCA, the UK's carrier-based fixed-wing aviation capability will be provided by BAE Harrier GR9/9As. An extensive upgrade to the Royal Air Force's current Harrier GR7 ground-attack aircraft, the new design is nearing service entry with the UK's Joint Force Harrier (JFH).
Initial fears over a possible erosion of pilot numbers with the retirement of the Sea Harrier have long since abated, and the navy's cadre of fast jet pilots is expected to rise from 56 to 80 by 2015, the service says. Current planning assumptions indicate that half of the UK's future JFH pilots will be navy personnel, with two of its four squadrons also to be commanded by naval officers.
The UK's dual-service Harrier experience will de-risk future operations of the CVF and JCA, says Commander UK Maritime Force Vice Adm Charles Style. "The tone and atmosphere of JFH is light years away from where it started. We have a joint air group with joint command and control and total flexibility to operate from ashore or on board," he says.
The UK's status as Washington's lone Level 1 partner in the multinational F-35 programme will enable its military to play a major role in the JSF's development and testing. Five British pilots will form part of the joint US/UK integrated test force, participating in flight-test activities in the USA.
Another 15 pilots will be sent to the USA to form the basis of an integrated training centre staff that will in turn train the UK's first operational JCA pilots. The UK expects to place a production order for the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B in 2009.
CRAIG HOYLE / LONDON
Source: Flight International
