Posted on 04/21/2015 5:57:04 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
BAE Systems Maritime rolled out the bridge module of the Royal Navy’s second Queen Elizabeth Class carrier, the HMS Prince Of Wales yesterday, and it looks more like it should be orbiting a planet in the Outer Rim and launching Tie Fighters than sailing the high seas.
The 70,000 displacement ton carrier will be commissioned in 2020, and like her sister, the Queen Elizabeth, she will carry around 40 aircraft. The mainstay of which will be the Royal Navy’s F-35Bs, along with pretty much every helicopter asset in service with UK forces, including Merlins, Apaches, Lynx Wildcats and Chinooks.
Top shot image credit BAe Systems Marine
No Phased Array panels?
I dunno—It’s a trap!
They don’t look “stealthy” to me—too many angles.
But, glad to see Britain back as a force for good on the seas!
Is that a double control tower. Why the double control tower?
One’s for driving the ship, the other (aft one) for control of aircraft.
I think they're not installed yet.
Instead of a traditional single island, a current ship design has two smaller islands. The forward island is for ship control functions and the aft (FLYCO) island is for flying control.
Advantages of the two island configuration are increased flight deck area, reduced air turbulence over the flight deck and increased flexibility of space allocation in the lower decks. The flight control centre in the aft island is in the optimum position for control of the critical aircraft approach and deck landings.
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/cvf/
So, instead of the Island, she has an Archepelego?
The book Shattered Sword told us that the Battle of Midway was fought by Japanese carrier Captains and Admirals on a bridge so small that they were literally shoulder to shoulder.
The Jap carrier bridges were so small there was no room to think
Find the womp rat sized thermal exhaust port.
Well played...
Yes, all that.
The two biggest benefits are optimized ship and flightdeck control, and aligning the stacks/uptakes for the ships gas turbines with the machinery spaces, eliminating a lot of the trunking.
I really wonder about the Ford class island being set so far back on the ship. Trunking isn’t an issue with a nuke carrier, but even with the additional island height I have to think visibility over the bow is going to be a big issue. Especially in bad weather and at night.
“The Jap carrier bridges were so small there was no room to think”
Plus they all had such terrible BO, the Captain’s eyes were tearing constantly blurring his vision.
That was my first observation also. One would think they would be looking at second generation SPY 1 technology.
Is this a missile cruiser?
Never mind about the missile comment. A carrier... My guess is the defensive suite is elsewhere in the group.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.