The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) is the lead in a series of two Queen Elizabeth-class ships being built for the British Navy. On December 7, 2017, the ceremony of incorporating the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the British Navy took place at the Royal Navy (KVMF) naval base in Portsmouth. The British naval flag was hoisted on the aircraft carrier.
The ceremony was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, who expressed confidence that the aircraft carrier will be a testament to British power at sea for the coming decades, as well as Princess Anne. According to UK Secretary of Defense Gavin Williamson, "the new aircraft carrier is the epitome of British design and functionality that is at the heart of the effort to build a future-proof military." It should be noted that the ship was entered into the KVMF after the completion of the second stage of sea trials, which were carried out off the coast of southern England since September 2017.
The second aircraft carrier of the HMS series "Prince of Wales" (R09) is also close to surrender. On September 8, 2017, the official christening ceremony of the British aircraft carrier Prince of Wales, which is being built there in dry dock, was held at the Abcock Marine shipyard, located in Rosyth, Scotland. The ceremony was attended by the current Prince of Wales Charles, and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla acted as the "godmother" of the new warship, breaking a bottle of 10-year-old Laphroaig whiskey on the hull of an aircraft carrier.
Aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth"
Contrary to popular misconception, the new British aircraft carrier received its name not in honor of the now reigning Queen Elizabeth II, but in honor of her distant predecessor - Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland, who ruled in 1558-1603 - the last of the Tudor dynasty. It was during the years of her reign that England became a leading maritime power, and therefore a world power. The era of Elizabeth I, the British themselves call "the golden age". Not only because she successfully fought against external and internal enemies, but also because art and science flourished during her reign. This was the time of Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon. Therefore, the name Queen Elizabeth was given to the most modern British aircraft carrier quite deservedly.
Today, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) is the largest Royal Navy ship in its entire history and the largest warship ever built in the country, with a total displacement of 70,600 tons. This aircraft carrier, like its sister ship "Prince of Wales" under construction, is three times larger than its predecessors - British aircraft carriers of the Invincible class and is comparable in size to the American aircraft carrier Nimitz or the French Charles de Gaulle. The aircraft carriers cost the UK a pretty penny, if in 2007 the construction of two warships was estimated at 3.9 billion pounds, then after the next revision of the contract in 2013 it amounted to 6.2 billion pounds (about 8.3 billion US dollars). At the same time, after the commissioning of the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, it is possible that it will become the largest KVMF warship in its entire history, since due to some changes and improvements made to the project, its total displacement can exceed the displacement of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth by 3,000 tons. … Commissioning of the Prince of Wales is scheduled for 2019.
History of the construction of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth
The idea of replenishing the KVMF with large aircraft carriers arose in Great Britain at the turn of the 21st century. At the beginning of 2003, the country's Ministry of Defense decided on a contractor for the construction of promising warships - BAE Systems Corporation. The draft design was carried out by the British branch of the French company Thales. This project already demonstrated the difference between future ships and existing aircraft carriers - the presence of not one, but two "islands" in the superstructure. In the bow superstructure, the ship control services are located, in the aft superstructure, the flight control services for aircraft and helicopters.
Aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" in the dock
For the first time, Des Brown, who at that time was the country's defense minister, announced an order for the construction of two aircraft carriers on July 25, 2017. The battleships of the Queen Elizabeth class were designed to replace the light British aircraft carriers of the Invincible class (in 1980 - 2014, three ships of this class served as part of the KVMF). The contract for the construction of new aircraft carriers was signed on July 3, 2008 with the specially created European consortium Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA).
The construction of the lead aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth was carried out from 2009 to 2017 by the ACA consortium at the Babcock Marine shipyard (the former Rosyth Dockyard naval shipyard, which was privatized in 1997), located in the Scottish city of Rosyth. The Aircraft Carrier Alliance includes the British branch of the French company Thales Group (designer) and the British companies BAE Systems Surface Ships, A&P Group and Cammell Laird. It was the British consortium members who were responsible for the production of large-block hull sections, from which the aircraft carrier was later assembled, which was in a dry construction dock.
The process of creating a new aircraft carrier was broken down into the construction of individual blocks weighing up to 11 thousand tons, which were assembled at various UK shipyards. Subsequently, the assembled blocks were delivered to the Scottish Rosyth, where they were assembled into a single whole. On July 4, 2014, the christening ceremony of the new ship took place. It was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, who was the "godmother" of the new British aircraft carrier. At the signal of the Queen of Great Britain, a bottle of Bowmore Scotch whiskey was smashed on the side of the ship.
Aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth"
For the United Kingdom Department of Defense, the Royal Navy and BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales UK, which are directly involved in the creation of the ship, the launch of the first aircraft carrier in the series marked the completion of a significant stage of work. Earlier, the British government had already delayed the development of the program for two years, which ultimately only led to its rise in price. They even tried to cancel the program for the construction of aircraft carriers, the issue of their sale to third countries was considered, the decision on the issue of which models of the F-35 aircraft would have to be based on aircraft carriers was changed twice. All this delayed the process of building the first ship.
On July 17, 2014, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) was taken out of dry dock and launched. On June 26, 2017, the ship first went to sea for sea trials. On August 16, 2017, the aircraft carrier arrived at its permanent base - the main naval base of the KVMF Portsmouth. Already in July, tests were started with the participation of helicopters, the second stage of these tests was scheduled for December 2017. The first tests of carrier-based F-35B aircraft from the aircraft carrier are scheduled to begin at the end of 2018, they will take place off the coast of the United States. The aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth and its air group are expected to reach initial combat readiness in 2021, and full combat readiness no earlier than 2023.
Design features of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth
The mechanical design of the modern British aircraft carrier was fully automated. Computer simulation tools were specially created by QinetiQ specialists. The design of the ship's hull was carried out based on the required 50-year service life. A feature of the hull of the new aircraft carrier was the presence of a springboard used for aircraft with a short takeoff and landing. The presence of a springboard and the absence of accelerating catapults makes the ship similar to the only Russian heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov". The hull of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth has 9 decks, not counting the flight deck. The flight deck of the ship provides for the simultaneous take-off and landing of aircraft, located in the front part of the springboard has an elevation angle of 13 °.
Aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth"
Unlike the vast majority of traditional aircraft carriers, Queen Elizabeth received two small superstructures. In the front are the premises of the ship control services, and in the back - the flight control services of the aircraft carrier's air group. The advantage of this ship architecture is the increased deck area, more flexible space on the lower decks and less turbulent air currents that can interfere with flight. The location of the services responsible for managing the flights of the air group in the rear of the deck seems to be preferable, since it allows better control of such critical phases of the flight as the approach and landing itself on board the aircraft carrier.
Like any other modern aircraft carrier, the British Queen Elizabeth is a real floating city, on board which even has its own cinema and a large gym. Also on board there are 4 large dining areas, which employ 67 catering workers. They are able to serve up to 960 people in one hour. There is also a hospital on board, designed for 8 beds (up to 8 bedridden serious patients), its own operating room and dental room, served by 11 medical workers. The ship's 470 cabins can accommodate 1,600 people (by the number of berths), including 250 marines.
The ship's propulsion system is integrated into an Integrated Electric Propulsion (IEP). It includes two powerful Rolls-Royce Marine MT30 gas turbines with a capacity of 36 MW each (the same gas turbines are installed on the latest American Zumwalt destroyers) and four Finnish Wartsila 38 diesel generators with a total capacity of 40 MW. The engines run on generators, which supply electricity to the general low-voltage network of the aircraft carrier and power, among other things, the electric motors that rotate two propeller shafts with fixed-pitch propellers. The power plant accelerates the ship with a total displacement of 70,600 tons to a speed of 26 knots (about 48 km / h).
Fighter-bomber Lockheed Martin F-35B
The ship is literally packed with modern equipment and has a high level of automation of almost all processes, due to which its crew consists of only 679 people. At the same time, the ship's strengths include, of course, its automated combat control system, which is integrated with a long-range radar, which allows it to simultaneously track up to one thousand air targets at a distance of 250 nautical miles (about 460 km). In addition, the ship houses a special center for the commander of an aircraft carrier strike group (AUG).
Another feature of the ship is that it is the first aircraft carrier, which was originally designed for the use of 5th generation aircraft. The basis of the Queen's air group will be the American Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter-bombers (with vertical / short takeoff / landing). The staff of the aircraft carrier's air group in the "ocean" version will be 24 F-35B fighters, 9 Merlin anti-submarine helicopters and 4 or 5 Merlin helicopters in the AWACS version. In addition, the aircraft carrier will be able to take on board army aviation helicopters - AH-64 Apache, AW159 Wildcat and even CH-47 Chinook of various modifications. This is important because the UK Department of Defense views the ship as a means of performing joint inter-service and coastal operations. The aircraft carrier initially provides space for 250 marines, while, if necessary, the number of marines can be increased to 900 people.
In its standard state, the aircraft carrier's air group will include up to 40 aircraft, however, as noted by the British military, if necessary, the ship will be able to take on board up to 70 aircraft. The hangar deck of an aircraft carrier with an area of 155 by 33.5 meters and a height of 6, 7 to 10 meters can accommodate up to 20 aircraft. They are lifted up to the flight deck using two powerful lifts, each of which is able to simultaneously lift two F-35B fighter-bombers to the take-off deck, spending 60 seconds on it. The elevators are so powerful that together they can lift the entire crew of the ship, notes BAE Systems.
AWACS helicopter Merlin Mk2 with Crowsnest system
The aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth is designed for 420 sorties within 5 days with the possibility of carrying out operations at night. The maximum intensity of departures is 110 within 24 hours. The maximum take-off rate of aircraft is 24 in 15 minutes, landing is 24 aircraft in 24 minutes. There are no aerofinishers and booster catapults on board; without alteration, the ship can only take on board short / vertical takeoff / landing aircraft.
The weakest element of the "Queen" can be called defensive weapons, which are represented only by various artillery installations. In particular, three 20-mm six-barreled rapid-fire artillery installations for close defense Phalanx CIWS. This shipborne anti-aircraft artillery system, designed to combat anti-ship missiles with subsonic and supersonic flight speeds (up to 2 speeds of sound), received the nickname R2-D2 in the American Navy for its characteristic appearance. In addition to this complex, there are 4 modern 30-mm DS30M Mk2 assault rifles on board and a number of machine guns designed to protect against asymmetric threats - terrorists and pirates in small boats.
For its weak defensive weapons and large size, the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth has already been called a convenient target for Russian anti-ship missiles. This is exactly what the Russian Defense Ministry said in response to the words of the British Defense Minister Michael Fallon that "the Russians will look at the aircraft carrier with envy." Defensive weapons are indeed the weakest point of the new British ship. On the other hand, it is built within a completely different application concept. Unlike the only aircraft carrier in the Russian fleet, which carries on board a large number of various weapons, including anti-ship missiles and is able to operate autonomously, the British "Queen" is designed to be used as part of the AUG, when it will be reliably covered by numerous escort ships and underwater boats.
Anti-aircraft artillery complex Phalanx CIWS
Experts from the British analytical center Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) also say that the largest ship in the British fleet is vulnerable to anti-ship missiles. An anti-ship missile worth less than half a million pounds could at least disable a British aircraft carrier worth more than three billion pounds, they said. “A salvo of 10 of these missiles will cost the Russian budget less than £ 4 million. It’s much easier to destroy such targets by focusing fire on them than to develop something of the same level to fight on equal terms,” the RUSI experts said in a report.
The performance characteristics of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08):
Displacement - 70 600 tons (full).
Length - 280 m.
Width - 73 m.
Height - 56 m.
Draft - 11 m.
Engines: two Rolls-Royce Marine MT30 gas turbines with a capacity of 36 MW each and four Wartsila diesel generator sets with a total capacity of about 40 MW.
The maximum speed is up to 26 knots (48 km / h).
The cruising range is up to 10,000 nautical miles (about 19,000 km).
Swimming autonomy - 290 days.
The aircraft carrier's crew is 679 people.
Marines - 250 people.
The total capacity is 1600 people (together with the personnel of the air group, according to the number of berths).
Air group: up to 40 fighters and helicopters: including up to 24 5th generation Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter-bombers, up to 9 AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin HM2 anti-submarine helicopters and 4-5 Merlin helicopters in the AWACS version. If necessary, it can take on board up to 70 aircraft.
Defensive armament: 3 Phalanx CIWS anti-aircraft guns, 4x30mm 30mm DS30M Mark 2 artillery mounts and machine guns to counter asymmetric threats.
