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Britain’s F-35B stealth fighters are set to achieve initial operating capability at the end of this year. But that is only from land bases, with nine aircraft. It will be another two years before No. 617 Squadron can fly operationally from the first of the country’s two new QEII-class aircraft carriers. HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to set sail from Portsmouth naval base in the fall for the eastern seaboard of the U.S. There, two American F-35Bs flown by British test pilots will embark for the first time. They will do at-sea takeoffs from the carrier’s ski-jump for the first...

Back in November 2010, then-Lt Cdr James Blackmore became the last pilot of a BAE Systems Harrier to launch from the flightdeck of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, bringing to an end three decades of shipborne short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) operations from the service's three Invincible-class carriers. In a circuitous arc, now Cdr Blackmore will in five months oversee the re-birth of fixed-wing aviation in the RN, as HMS Queen Elizabeth – the first of its two new 65,000t aircraft carriers – begins first of class flying trials (FOCFT) with STOVL aircraft of an altogether...

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has confirmed that the US Marine Corps will be flying F-35Bs from HMS Queen Elizabeth on the aircraft's carrier's maiden operational deployment. He said: “I can welcome the commitment of the United States to deploying F-35s on the first operational deployment of Queen Elizabeth – the HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2021. And in the fullness of time, we expect our F-35s to be welcome on the American carriers.” Fallon confirmed the deployment while giving a joint press conference on Wednesday at London's Lancaster House with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter. "We value very much having such...

Each day and night some 5,000 men and women pour into the docks at Rosyth to work on the two giant aircraft carriers that in the next three years will become the pride of the Navy’s fleet. HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are the biggest warships ever built in this country, and will be the cutting edge of the Royal Navy’s capability, giving it the second biggest carrier force in the world. The carriers don’t come cheap — £6.3 billion for the ships alone — and don’t come without controversy, both political and military. Construction work is...

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...

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....

'These new computer-generated images put into context the huge scale of the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) has released a series of powerful posters illustrating the sheer size of the warships. The computer-generated images show the warships dwarfing some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. Another notable poster is of the under-construction HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed alongside in Portsmouth, Hants. The ACA is a consortium of defence companies behind the construction of Portsmouth's newest carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Ian Booth, programme director of the ACA, said: 'These...

Navy's £10bn new aircraft carriers could face the axe because of cash shortfalls By Ian Drury The Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers could be axed because of cash shortfalls, a damning report warns today. Britain’s spending watchdog said the 65,000-tonne floating fortresses were ‘vulnerable’ unless ministers boosted defence spending. The National Audit Office expressed ‘deep concerns’ over the future of the warships which have already been delayed until 2020 to save money. The NAO warned that the cost of the carriers could spiral to over £10billion – more than twice the original bill. Cash fears: An artist's impression shows what...

Aircraft carrier: A mind-boggling building job By Chris Summers BBC News In a shipyard in Scotland the future of the Royal Navy is slowly taking shape. But the construction of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is a mammoth task. Imagine an aircraft carrier as a 65,000-tonne jigsaw puzzle and you have got a good idea of the scale of the building of HMS Queen Elizabeth. The pieces are being built at six shipyards around the UK and will be slotted together at Rosyth in Fife using an enormous crane which was transported by sea from China. Around 10,000 workers...

Aircraft carriers: plane sailing Britain is paying a high price, but not too high If diplomacy is the continuation of war by other means, and if the art of diplomacy is to speak softly and carry a big stick, then no stick comes much bigger, or looks more intimidating, than a 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier. Except maybe two 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers. The tricky part of the equation is that big sticks do not come cheap. The Government has signed a contract for two 65,000-tonne supercarriers for the Royal Navy. As big sticks go, these are the second-biggest of their kind. Only...

Contracts for the supply of 65 million pounds worth of steel, for the construction of the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers have been announced today, Tuesday 4 March 2008, by Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Baroness Taylor. The supply of over 80,000 tonnes of steel from Corus for the manufacture of the two ships, with an estimated value of £65 million, is the same amount required for Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 and three times that for Wembley Stadium. he UK is procuring two new Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of...

The start of an investment project to modify the dockyard at Rosyth, in preparation for the assembly of the two Royal Navy super carriers was witnessed today, 11 February 2008, by Defence Secretary Des Browne. The two 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are to be constructed in sections in shipyards at Portsmouth and Barrow-in-Furness, Glasgow, with final assembly at Babcock's Rosyth in Scotland. Des Browne witnessed the signing of a £35m contract today by Babcock Engineering Services with Glasgow-based subcontractors Edmund Nuttall Limited to modify the docks in order to accommodate the building...

Orders for two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers have been confirmed by Defence Secretary Des Browne. He said the £3.8bn contract would lead to the construction of the largest vessels ever sailed by the Royal Navy. The new 65,000-tonne carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - will enter service in 2014 and 2016. Mr Browne said the work would support and create 10,000 jobs across the UK, including those at yards on the Clyde, Rosyth, Portsmouth and Barrow.