The two CVFs will be 60,000t, conventionally powered designs due to enter service in 2012 and 2015, replacing the Royal Navy's three CVS class carriers, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Illustrious and HMS Invincible. Portsmouth will be their home port and they will have 48-aircraft air wings, potentially comprising all Joint Combat Aircraft - the UK project name for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
More usually, some will be displaced by whatever is selected to fulfil the Maritime Airborne Surveillance Capability (MASC) requirement. MASC is an airborne early-warning platform, officially to be mounted on a helicopter or tiltrotor. Consideration, however, is known to have been given by BAE and Thales to short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) aircraft. STOBAR would allow a fixed-wing MASC. Other assets in the air wing would include AgustaWestland Merlin maritime helicopters. BAE and Thales also have MASC preliminary study contracts, which are separate to the carrier work. A preliminary go-ahead is due this year, with the final go-ahead not due until 2006.
The CVFs will give the UK operational flexibility, says the MoD. In recent operations - including the war in Iraq, last year's conflict in Afghanistan and the Balkan missions through the late 1990s - seaborne air-power has provided a crucial capability. An aircraft carrier eliminates the need for host nation support to provide airfields. When this is available, the carrier can still prove invaluable. It is not unknown for a ship to move positions, allowing operations to continue while land-based aircraft are grounded by weather conditions.
Source: Flight International
