Posted on 07/03/2014 5:44:09 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Queen to Christen First of Two New Aircraft Carriers, Second Headed for Mothballs
ROSYTH, Scotland— Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled on Friday to christen the first of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, despite lingering questions over whether Britain can afford both vessels.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to start sailing with combat jets in 2020—a decade after Britain suspended its membership in the elite club of militaries with that capacity, one that already includes India and China.
For the Royal Navy's top brass, the carrier represents another milestone in the country's storied history as a naval power.
But amid severe budget constraints following Europe's deepest recession since World War II, the U.K. government has yet to buy jets for the Queen Elizabeth, and will mothball the planned sister ship to save money.
That squeeze means Britain's ability to use its carrier to project military power will be significantly limited.
"Operating a single carrier really only gives you regional power," said Peter Roberts, a senior research fellow for maritime studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. That is largely because, without a backup, a carrier will be limited to six-month deployments.
"It is a second carrier availability that gives you that truly global characteristic of the navy," Mr. Roberts said.
The Queen Elizabeth and the sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, have a combined cost of £6.2 billion ($10.6 billion). The two, 65,000-ton vessels were conceived back in 1999, long before Europe's economic woes.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
QE doesn’t have the diagonal runway/catapult?
No, but the design accomidates them, and they can be retrofitted if desired, the Brits actually have gone back and forth on the matter at least once since they started building, with predictable resulting cost increases.
Further, the Brits are planning to operate the F-35B from them, which lands vertically. So no need for an angled deck.
The Kuznetsov class carriers operated by Russia and the ChiComs are STOBAR: Short take off but arrested landing. They operate conventional jets that require an arrested landing, but use skijumps not catapults for launch.
Missing from the picture is India’s “new” carrier, the old Kiev class Gorshkov. Shes been converted from VSTOL to STOBAR, flying MiG-29Ks. Looks like a Kuznetsov Mini-me.
Makes you wonder why they bother with it at all. It's not like they're going to attack France or Spain again.
This is how you fund cradle-to-grave socialism - build a new aircraft carrier, then mothball it. At least it’s a jobs program.
They might need to tangle with Argentina again. And they owe support to their fellow Commonwealth nations.
Makes you wonder why they bother with it at all. It's not like they're going to attack France or Spain again.
Well, they still have a region down near Argentina to think about.
OK. So 1/50 of these missiles gets a hit. They have thousands. That's enough to screw us up big time. Are we sure that the super-carrier isn't the Dreadnought of 1912 ... way cool ... but useless in two years? F-35 vertical take-off? Sure. But then you need to refuel right away to go on the mission.
Let's talk pre-emptive strike on the CHICOMs, OK? Maybe that way we can wipe out that money we owe them.
Notice that they kept it tied up at the yacht club during the Falklands unpleasantness?
The answer to that question was in the story:
"The project has been a boon for a mostly British network of defense companies. Construction began in 2009, involving 10,000 workers at sites across the country and more than 700 companies..."
The next time Argentina invades the Falklands, will the British have the guts to recapture that piece of crap island again?
Nice to hear that Great Britain still has the capacity to build aircraft carriers. How many other countries beside the U.S. is capable of doing that. France?
Don’t be silly. We’re not going to war with China. If a world war occurs, it’s likely that the West will fight the Islamic Caliphate.
“Let’s talk pre-emptive strike on the CHICOMs, OK?”
That already happened. On the recent 24 episode that I watched last night, the USS Massachusetts sank their carrier.
Spain and Italy have both built small carriers along the size of the old Invincible class. India and China each have one under construction. Russia has built them. I think China and Korea could both do it if they wanted to.
I have no idea. Doesn't Russia and China have carriers as well?
Argentina doesn’t, it’s Brazil that has a carrier. Former French Navy Foch, now named Sao Paulo.
UK military? Sure!
Dunno ‘bout the UK gub’mint, but the UKIP is slowly making inroads, so them, too.
India has a few.... one of them was launched by the UK in 1945 or something... probably needs to be retired... decades ago....
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.