Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

[cyrilranch]

https://twitter.com/#!/QEClassCarrie...225473/photo/1

[SDL]

any word on the name of the tug and the barge?

[jonas]

With thanks to defensenews.com:-

U.K. May Overhaul Management of Carrier Program

• May. 14, 2012 - 9:35 AM

LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defence is considering changes to the way the construction of the Royal Navy’s 65,000-ton aircraft carriers is run, according to defense sources.

[QEC Eye in the SKY]

With thanks to defensenews.com:-

U.K. May Overhaul Management of Carrier Program

• May. 14, 2012 - 9:35 AM

LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defence is considering changes to the way the construction of the Royal Navy’s 65,000-ton aircraft carriers is run, according to defense sources.

Would be great to hear that one ! Interesting read though Jonas, comfirming what most on this forum believe and it's nothing to do with greater power/better version of plane, config of the class, rather more short sighted financial 'prudence'.

[happyslapper]

How very ironic.

The management team responsible for programme budgetary control, scheduling, and performance... is replaced by order of the MoD.
The same MoD which has, in this single programme, lost control of the budget, delayed and dithered (incurring further costs), performed multiple u-turns, and has interfered to the point that BAE will have to deliver an inferior product.

I suspect that the Management Team have expressed this in no uncertain terms to Mr Spreadsheet and the sheep at the MoD, and so face being swept aside.

[cyrilranch]

How very ironic.

The management team responsible for programme budgetary control, scheduling, and performance... is replaced by order of the MoD.
The same MoD which has, in this single programme, lost control of the budget, delayed and dithered (incurring further costs), performed multiple u-turns, and has interfered to the point that BAE will have to deliver an inferior product.

I suspect that the Management Team have expressed this in no uncertain terms to Mr Spreadsheet and the sheep at the MoD, and so face being swept aside.

we doom now

[suricata]

Wonder if we'll get some better pictures of the island superstructure now that the block has been moved out of the way

[QEC Eye in the SKY]

https://twitter.com/#!/QEClassCarriers/status/202064077525225473/photo/1

These ships will be bloody massive when they are finally finished, I can't wait to see them proudly sat at Portsmouth NB.

[cyrilranch]

"A MAMMOTH section of the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier rolled out of the yard in Portsmouth.
Hundreds of workers proudly watched the 6,000-tonne piece of HMS Queen Elizabeth slowly inch out of BAE Systems’ shipbuilding hall.
The section, called Lower Block 02, is the equivalent to 500 London double-decker buses.
It was rolled aboard a sea-going barge on a remote-controlled platform which had 2,304 wheels.
Lower Block 02 has taken 1,300 BAE workers 28 months to build in Portsmouth.
It is due to be transported to Rosyth, Scotland, where 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth carrier is being assembled. The provisional time for its departure is next Monday at 5pm.
Project manager Paul Bowsher said: ‘It’s a really proud moment. You can see by how many people who have turned out to watch this just how much it means to Portsmouth.’
The section is 80 per cent completed with cabins, toilets, sinks, showers, recreational areas and two large diesel engines fitted inside.
Mechanical supervisor Paul Jeran, 57, was among the hundreds of workers watching the section roll out.
He said: ‘When you are working on it, you don’t realise how much it’s taken shape. But when you’d go off on holiday and come back you’d be stunned about how far it had come along.
‘It’s an iconic moment for me personally. I saw the last ship launched at Portsmouth shipyard because my father worked on it and now I’m here working on this.
‘It’s a proud thing for the city to see such a big ship being built here. All the lads are so proud to see it go out.’
HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be finished and launched in Rosyth in 2014. She will be based in Portsmouth in 2016.
Work on the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, started in Portsmouth earlier this year."
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/bus...outh-1-3839578


so in 4 years time from now , QE will be in Portsmouth awaiting her F35B's

[SDL]

we can't get any sooner than 2016?

[QEC Eye in the SKY]

"A MAMMOTH section of the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier rolled out of the yard in Portsmouth.
Hundreds of workers proudly watched the 6,000-tonne piece of HMS Queen Elizabeth slowly inch out of BAE Systems’ shipbuilding hall.
The section, called Lower Block 02, is the equivalent to 500 London double-decker buses.
It was rolled aboard a sea-going barge on a remote-controlled platform which had 2,304 wheels.
Lower Block 02 has taken 1,300 BAE workers 28 months to build in Portsmouth.
It is due to be transported to Rosyth, Scotland, where 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth carrier is being assembled. The provisional time for its departure is next Monday at 5pm.
Project manager Paul Bowsher said: ‘It’s a really proud moment. You can see by how many people who have turned out to watch this just how much it means to Portsmouth.’
The section is 80 per cent completed with cabins, toilets, sinks, showers, recreational areas and two large diesel engines fitted inside.
Mechanical supervisor Paul Jeran, 57, was among the hundreds of workers watching the section roll out.
He said: ‘When you are working on it, you don’t realise how much it’s taken shape. But when you’d go off on holiday and come back you’d be stunned about how far it had come along.
‘It’s an iconic moment for me personally. I saw the last ship launched at Portsmouth shipyard because my father worked on it and now I’m here working on this.
‘It’s a proud thing for the city to see such a big ship being built here. All the lads are so proud to see it go out.’
HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be finished and launched in Rosyth in 2014. She will be based in Portsmouth in 2016.
Work on the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, started in Portsmouth earlier this year."
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/bus...outh-1-3839578


so in 4 years time from now , QE will be in Portsmouth awaiting her F35B's

I might be shooting the gun a little here, so if all blocks will be at Rosyth come the end of this year and it will be finished and launched by 2014, why the extra wait.....Oh that's right because we won't have any jets for it !


Hopefully Dave B doesnt get canned before then !

[SDL]

two years of sea trials...... that's what the 45s do before they come into service isn't it?

[cyrilranch]

two years of sea trials...... that's what the 45s do before they come into service isn't it?

so the ship's system are tested from 2014 to 2016 when it handed over to the Navy.then another 2 to 4 years of more testing??????
Not like Daring Trials ,note as first of class she has the longest of trials compare to the others,But I would not think QE required 6 years of Trialsyou could build another carrier/2*T45's from scratch in that time

[QEC Eye in the SKY]

so the ship's system are tested from 2014 to 2016 when it handed over to the Navy.then another 2 to 4 years of more testing??????
Not like Daring Trials ,note as first of class she has the longest of trials compare to the others,But would not think QE required 6 years of Trialsyou could build another carrier/2*T45's from scratch in that time

So the ships systems are tested between '14 and '16, whilst in the meantime we have RN and FAA staff at NAS' all over the US rediscovering skills we've lost, so 2014-2020 seems a long time for anything.


Just to poke at the Hornets next here - but I'm sure we will hear something about MOD defence budget at PMQ's on Wednesday, For Any ACA or BAE Systems staff that are reading this forum, this is how a real aircraft carrier looks like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cvnanim.gif

And if you dont want the 4 CATS, easy get rid of the waistline ones. Because of the GREED of some, the Armed Forces have to pay !


Sorry for going off an a tangent folks, but my blood is still boiling after last Thursday, and if Dave B gets Cancelled the only winner will be BAE as they of course want huge sums of cash to even think of conversion - IF the gov of the day had the balls to perform another u turn. Would still appear to me as a rushed decision and after Hammond stated this afternoon in Parliament that the budget for the MOD was in check the only reason why we've got back to Dave B and not carried on with Catobar is MONEY !!! Apologies for the rant.

[cyrilranch]

Also note the main gate the current gov have stated for ordering F35 weather it's B or A is 2015.
since it takes 2 years to build and deliver that means aircraft will not arrive in numbers until 2018 earliest (planned order is currently at up to 27aircraft in 2018 plus it takes 2 years for pilots to workup on land
so it's 2020 is when QE gets it's planes assuming the RAF have not nick them .
that's 4 years sitting around Portsmouth for QE and maybe 2 years for POW.
they should be ordering between early 2013 and 2014 at the latest a initial number of 60 aircraft.