It's enough to get to "hotdog" with your nice twin turbo-prop ASW bird, but getting paid to do it, or better yet? (not really, I'd rather be flying!) getting paid to "ride along" in the right seat, F/E station, now that's the life!
According to a member of the ships company we spoke to, HMS Queen Elizabeth is likely to sail on Monday.
We had originally believed that the vessel was to sail on Sunday but new information has come to light.
This has not been confirmed officially by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance and readers intending to see the ship should note that the bridges over the Forth will be closed to the public as the vessel departs.
A member of the ships company we spoke to told the UK Defence Journal that the potential for a delay until Monday was because “the weather forecast for the weekend isn’t great”.
Unfortunately, that delay has now happened due to the relatively poor weather expected on Sunday.
“Today at the clear lower deck the ship’s company were briefed that the ship will sail on Monday weather permitting and we still have a few trials that need to be achieved before we can go all of which should be complete by Sunday allowing a sail time of around lunch time Monday.”
Defence secretary Michael Fallon said about the earlier slip in sea trials from Spring to Summer:
“It has always been our intention that Queen Elizabeth should be accepted into the Royal Navy before the end of this year. We are not giving specific dates as to when the sea trials are likely to commence.”
It is understood that this minor delay is ‘not outside the tolerance’ of the programme.
JMSDF needs to get serious with its flat top fleet
What is the largest number of helicopters we have seen on this LHD ?
Should be packed out JMSDF has plenty of helicopters
Why running empty
I saw 5 on the deck of Izumo earlier. There can't be more there. And they brought 5 or 6 Sea Hawks with them this time. I can't confirm those numbers as when they showed the hangar the fireproof shutter was always down. Of course they don't go with all of them all the time as there's no need for such a large number going around Japanese Islands making patrols. That would leave a few of them without a work for a pretty long time when those helis could be used in a more meaningful way.What is the largest number of helicopters we have seen on this LHD ?
I saw 5 on the deck of Izumo earlier. There can't be more there. And they brought 5 or 6 Sea Hawks with them this time. I can't confirm those numbers as when they showed the hangar the fireproof shutter was always down. Of course they don't go with all of them all the time as there's no need for such a large number going around Japanese Islands making patrols. That would leave a few of them without a work for a pretty long time when those helis could be used in a more meaningful way.
Anyway,
Well they aren't LHDs as they have no dock, I'd go with LPH as a more accurate designation (Landing Platform Helicopter) and as far as I know the official (taken with a pinch of salt of course) is DDH or Helicopter carrying Destroyer. All of which has nothing to do with the point of the original question.JMSDF needs to get serious with its flat top fleet
What is the largest number of helicopters we have seen on this LHD ?
Should be packed out JMSDF has plenty of helicopters
Why running empty
source:While the Lockheed Martin F-35B will inevitably be the main attraction of the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-class carrier, the service is expecting the rotary fleet to really come into its own through the deployment of the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin, plus other possible rotorcraft in the future.
It is currently residing at Rosyth in Scotland, and weather-dependent it will embark on the first phase of sea trials in coming weeks.
“HMS Queen Elizabeth is just about to sail, and I hope it will sail this month,” Rear Adm Keith Blount, assistant chief of naval staff (aviation, amphibious capability and carriers), told a media briefing at the show. “We’re now counting down the days to sail, opposed to the months.”
It will end up in Portsmouth by the end of the year, followed by rotary-wing testing in 2018. It will then transit to the east coast of the USA for trials of the F-35 by the end of 2018.
The RN’s future carrier strike group will consist of 24 F-35Bs deployed on-board the vessel, plus a blend of Merlins in both the standard and Crowsnest roles, although the carrier can carry up to 36 F-35B examples. Initial operational capability (IOC) for carrier strike is planned for 2020.
The Merlin’s new Crowsnest capability will be provided via the Thales-developed Searchwater radar and Cerberus mission system, which is expected to reach IOC with the RN in 2020, and full capability in 2021-2022.
“We’re proud to say the F-35B will be the aircraft of choice,” Blount says, although he stresses that it will have to work “in harmony” with the Merlins.
“Although we’ve been operating this [the Merlin] for years, I think we’ll soon see a purple patch where it really blooms,” he notes.
Merlin Mk3/4 variants will be initially used to support the UK’s equivalent of the carrier on-board delivery (COD) mission, until a decision is made on how to carry this out long-term. The Royal Air Force’s Boeing Chinooks could be utilised, or a new aircraft such as the Bell Boeing V-22.
The RN is considering buying the tiltrotors for this mission in alignment with the US Navy’s execution of COD – a V-22 can carry one F-35 engine – but is yet to make a decision on this.
“What I’m quite keen to do is get as many rotary-wing authorisations for the carrier [as possible],” Blount noted.