Agreed. F-35B is fine but would have hoped for more like 72 of them (if the order is being cut) and transferred to the Fleet Air Arm. Very disappointing
MwRYum
Major
If they got the money to install it, they'd have do so in the beginning.
To do it now means the QE class will have to spend yet more time in the shipyard for the upgrade works.
But look at the bright side: where else to find a good excuse to skip London's promise to conduct gunboat diplomacy against China?
All the space that would have to be given up for a catapult and power system would cause problems. No one designs ships with that much extra space/power
They were designed with that space already. It’s a 50 year ship. Also angled deck is all about where you paint the lines. If they did decide to do it POW would or should go first, then QE would go in around 2026/7. Would be one hell of a move though.
Hm, looks like I was wrong:
"With engineering spaces below the flight deck Britain's new carriers have been built to take electromagnetic catapult systems in the future if need be.
HMS Prince of Wales had originally been designed with the US Navy’s EMALS system (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) in mind. "
"With engineering spaces below the flight deck Britain's new carriers have been built to take electromagnetic catapult systems in the future if need be.
HMS Prince of Wales had originally been designed with the US Navy’s EMALS system (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) in mind. "
I
forgot about all those other flat tops we have laying about, but seriously what else would they be for?
MwRYum
Major
But that doesn't say if the said provisions survived into the final design and physically present onboard.