Posted on 08/11/2017 4:42:36 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Royal Navy’s new supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and her battle group met the U.S. Navy’s carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the North Atlantic for an exercise beginning on Aug. 1, 2017.
The 10-day exercise Saxon Warrior 2017 “allows both U.S. and U.K. naval forces a chance to hone our interoperability skills,” said Rear Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander of Bush‘s Carrier Strike Group 2. “Particularly important is the alignment of U.S. carrier strike groups and the U.K. carrier strike group.”
Both navies — and one NATO ally — sent ships and crews to the exercise. But one key component is missing. While Bush deploys with an air wing including helicopters, radar planes, electronic-warfare planes and no fewer than 40 F/A-18 fighters, Queen Elizabeth still doesn’t carry any fixed-wing planes — and won’t do so until late 2018.
Ships participating in Saxon Warrior 2017 include the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the destroyer USS Donald Cook and the Norwegian frigate HNoMS Helge Insgstad, plus the Royal Navy Type 23 frigates Westminster and Iron Duke, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Wave Ruler and the Royal Navy submarine Trenchant. Land-based British helicopters and planes have also joined in.
The war game includes simulated combat and shooting drills with live ammunition. There is reportedly a major anti-submarine component, presumably involving Trenchant hunting one or both carriers while, in turn, the escort vessels hunt the sub.
That Queen Elizabeth is exercising with Bush without an air wing is, in a sense, the point. The Royal Navy is still in the process of reconstituting its carrier aviation capability, having prematurely retired its Harrier jump jets in 2010 and the last of its three light carriers in 2016. Queen Elizabeth launched in July 2017 and should enter active service around 2020. Her sister ship Prince of Wales is scheduled to launch some time in 2017.
The Saxon Warrior exercise could help prepare the Royal Navy’s Naval Strike Wing for embarking F-35B stealth jump jets in late 2018. Bush anchored outside Portsmouth — Queen Elizabeth‘s future home port — in the days preceding the exercise in order to embark 65 British pilots, staff, maintainers and deck crew for training alongside their more-experienced American counterparts.
“This exercise is a great demonstration of the U.K.’s relationship with the United States who are helping us in getting back our carrier strike capability,” said Royal Marines colonel Phil Kelly, the British carrier group’s strike commander.
Queen Elizabeth herself is due to arrive at Portsmouth in early August 2017, having met and exercised with Bush en route.
Quality of our ships can’t be beat. Likewise, our doctrine is well tested. The US has far more experience in carrier operations than any other nation on earth. We know how to do this stuff. Other nations basically hope for the best.
I recall selling pool tickets to incoming freshman at my high school.
First time I ever saw Queen Elizabeth naked.
Like a Monty Python sketch - soldiers firing wooden guns - “Bangity-Bang Bang”
LOL, you were probably voted most likely to succeed!
Where do they store the RUM?
U.S. carriers were doing that long before World War II. I believe they are the only fleet that did - the Brits and the Japanese did not.
When construction started the Royal Navy was expecting the delivery of the F-35s a lot soon than 2018.
Just behind the buggery.
Yeah, but Queen Elizabeth has TWO islands while Bush has only one! So there!
Our boat is 10 Tons.
Does that count as a British Supercarrier?
Aside from the carriers the RN’s largest combat vessels are destroyers.
The RN is very small now. Only about 80 ships.
Why build a carrier at all if you are going to put F35s on it? Single engine planes! I hope there are a lot of rescue ships. F35 armed Navies are going to need them
You forgot the Italians. Never mind that the Kirov (and especially Molotov) were based on Italian design philosophy...
The Italians did make some nice looking vessels, especially in the Fifties and Sixties in the passenger liner area. I believe the Andrea Doria was one of them.
Nice looking.
We have operated many single engine planes from carriers up into the nineties.
I don’t think it is an impediment.
The one missing aircraft, was it the Rachael?
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