UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

asif iqbal

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
Impossible up say what will be orders in 10 years time as this will be decided in the UK defence review 2015

The 138 was the initial number but 48 is also suggested but we all know it will be more than that

Peace Gate 5 will finalise the numbers in 2017

As of now the order books are for 14 confirmed units of which 3 have been delivered and the 4th is due (BK-1 to BK-4)

The first 14 will form the first squadron under Peace Gate 4 all delivered by 2016 and handed over to the Dambusters 617 unit

Second F35B unit is 809 Immortals Naval Air Squadron

Out of the soon 4 aircraft 3 are going to be test and evaluation aircraft (BK1,2,4) and 1 training (BK-3)

The three OT&E are in Elgin and will be sent to Edwards Air Force Base BK-3 will remain at Elgin Air Force Base
 
I

imperialman

Just Hatched
Registered Member
asif iqbal said:
AVIATION

The vessels are capable of deploying a variety of aircraft in large numbers, up to a maximum in the upper fifties in surge conditions. In addition to the F-35B, the air wing is expected to be composed of a ‘Maritime Force Protection’ package of nine anti-submarine Merlin HM2 and four or five Merlin for airborne early warning; alternatively a ‘Littoral Manoeuvre’ package could include a mix of RAF Chinooks, Army Apaches, Merlin HC4 and Wildcat HM2.

Tabloids often like to quote 12 as the maximum number of F-35B’s the carrier will be able to carry, however this, as you probably know, is nonsense. The carriers, in peacetime, will usually deploy with 12 F-35B’s as a minimum and a number of various helicopters. To reduce costs and free aircraft for other commitments, the maximum aircraft complement will not usually be carried in peacetime, it instead will be supplied as required or deployed to the vessels in the event of a crisis. Rather than funding a large and permanent Carrier Air Group, the relatively new concept of a Tailored Air Group rather than fixed Carrier Air Group will be adopted for the Queen Elizabeth class with the exact types and numbers of aircraft embarked being adjusted to meet current requirements and threats.

Six deck landing spots are envisaged, but the deck could be marked out for the operation of ten medium helicopters at once, allowing the lift of a company of 250 troops. The hangars are designed for CH-47 Chinook operations without blade folding and the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor.

The hangar deck measures 155 by 33.5 metres (509 by 109.9 ft) with a height of 6.7 to 10 metres (22 to 33 ft), large enough to accommodate in excess of twenty fixed and rotary wing aircraft. To transfer aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck, the ships have two large lifts, each of which are capable of lifting two F-35-sized aircraft to the flight deck in 60 seconds.

Uniquely for a vessel of this type, it will be common to see the jump-jet F-35B appear to land conventionally. This is a process called Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL). It is a process designed to land jump-jet aircraft that uses both the vertical thrust from the jet engine and lift from the wings, thus maximising the payload an aircraft can return with and stopping the financial waste that comes with dropping expensive weaponry in the sea in order to land vertically.

SRVL landing is under development for use with the F-35B when it enters service with the Royal Navy in 2018. Rolling landings will enable the F-35B to land on these carriers with an increased weapon and fuel load and will use the aircraft’s computer controlled disc brakes. However, a number of defence analysts have suggested that operational SRVL landings may only be possible within a limited range of sea states and weather conditions.
Click to expand...

Nice summary, where's it from if you don't mind me asking?
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
asif iqbal said:
Uniquely for a vessel of this type, it will be common to see the jump-jet F-35B appear to land conventionally. This is a process called Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL). It is a process designed to land jump-jet aircraft that uses both the vertical thrust from the jet engine and lift from the wings, thus maximising the payload an aircraft can return with and stopping the financial waste that comes with dropping expensive weaponry in the sea in order to land vertically.

SRVL landing is under development for use with the F-35B when it enters service with the Royal Navy in 2018. Rolling landings will enable the F-35B to land on these carriers with an increased weapon and fuel load and will use the aircraft’s computer controlled disc brakes. However, a number of defence analysts have suggested that operational SRVL landings may only be possible within a limited range of sea states and weather conditions.
Click to expand...

SRVL will be an interesting hybrid appraoch, making the QEs a hybrid STOBAR carrier.

No arrestor hooks or system, but if they are going to come in rolling, they will probably have some sort of barrier device to employ in case of trouble, as CATOBAR carriers do for any aircraft whose arrestor gear or landing gear may be damaged but which attempts to land anyway.

It will be interesting to see how the UK develops this process/procedure.
 
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I

imperialman

Just Hatched
Registered Member
Does anyone have a source for the summary/analysis of the Queen Elizabeth class written above? I'd really like to read more. :)
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
With all the talk of the SRLV process the Royal Navy will use for landing their F-35Bs on the QE carriers, I still wonder if they will use a barricade system to ensure that any damaged or malfunctioning aircraft landing in that manner can be stopped without indangering aircraft or personnel further forward on the vessel.

I thought it would be educational for SD members to understand how the barrier system works on US carriers, and interesting to see what, if anuything, the UK employs.

Basically you have a barricade whose stanchions lift out of the deck to the vertical positon where a very tough netting is fitted to them. The combined strength of all of the lines/netting that make up the barricade is strong enough to stop (or arrest) a US Navy aircraft coming in at landing speed or even higher.

Here are a number of pictures showing what the barricade it, numerous examples of it being used, and how it is erected on US super carriers to this day.

Crash-barrier-01.jpg

Crash-barrier-02.jpg

Crash-barrier-03.jpg

Crash-barrier-04.jpg

Crash-barrier-05.jpg

Crash-barrier-06.jpg

Crash-barrier-07.jpg

Crash-barrier-08.jpg

Crash-barrier-09.jpg

Crash-barrier-10.jpg

Crash-barrier-11.jpg

Crash-barrier-12.jpg
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
imperialman said:
Does anyone have a source for the summary/analysis of the Queen Elizabeth class written above? I'd really like to read more. :)
Click to expand...

imperialman, I just copy-pasted a chunk of the text, put double quotations marks around it in the google search window:

"This is a process called Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL). It is a process designed to land jump-jet aircraft that uses both the vertical thrust from the jet engine and lift from the wings, thus maximising the payload an aircraft can return with and stopping the financial waste that comes with dropping expensive weaponry in the sea in order to land vertically."

This usually gives a unique hit (in this case, the webpage thunderchief quoted in http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/world-armed-forces/uk-military-news-thread-59-2437.html#post276855) as it's unlikely two (or more than two!) people would've have independently written exactly the same stuff :)

Anyway, by typing
queen elizabeth carrier
into the google I just obtained
4 030 000
hits, but, imperialman, the more I read about it, the less I like it ...

EDIT
kind of summary for skeptics:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 
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