Aircraft carriers of Great Britain and France are going through hard times
The continuing rise in the cost of military programs is hurting one of the most expensive branches of the military-industrial complex - shipbuilding. The aircraft carriers were the first to be hit.
Last September it became known that the naval departments of Great Britain and France are negotiating the creation of a joint group of "floating airfields" for permanent combat duty at sea. It was to include the British ships "Arc Royal" and "Illastries", as well as the French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle". However, the current state of the fleets of the Channel neighbors, the global economic crisis, as well as some decisions taken later, put a big cross on these plans.
CHEAP IMPERIAL POLICY
Recently, the United Kingdom's Department of Defense announced the immediate withdrawal from the fleet of one of the two Invincible-class aircraft carriers, the Arc Royal. This decision, which was included in a large package of other measures to reduce British military programs, caused a serious resonance: in fact, only one aircraft carrier "Illastries" remains in the ranks of Her Majesty's Navy, and its fate also hangs in the balance.
What is the reason for the accelerated write-off of Arc Royal? Saving budget funds has never been a sufficient reason in itself, although now, as far as one can judge, the position of the British military budget is comparable to the catastrophic failure of the early 1920s. Then under the "dismissal", covered by the Washington agreements on the limitation of naval arms, fell dozens of ships that had nothing to support, and the construction of new ones almost completely stopped.
True, in London they claim that the "Arc Royal" is being "retired" for the sake of two new aircraft carriers laid down in Britain: "Queen Elizabeth" and "Prince of Wells". However, this is a clear attempt to put a good face on a bad game. Actually, both of these ships of the CV Future class were planned during development and laying as a replacement for the depleted Ark Royal and its sister ship Illastries. The hasty decommissioning of one of the two aircraft carriers left by the retired "mistress of the seas" indicates the serious difficulties facing the British military.
"Illastries", by the way, also cannot feel in the privileged position of Her Majesty's only aircraft carrier. If "Arc Royal" is written off "immediately" and without any conditions, then "Illastries" can also leave the ranks of the Royal Navy - in case of a negative answer to the question about possible conversion into an amphibious assault helicopter carrier or command ship.
If you look closely at the design characteristics of "Elizabeth" and "Prince", then such tight-fistedness becomes clear. These ships have three times the displacement of the "aircraft-carrying cruisers" of the "Invincible" class and are capable of becoming the base for 36 full-fledged carrier-based fighters, in contrast to the 12-18 "Harriers" that take off vertically from their predecessors. The cost of one new aircraft carrier, according to the most conservative preliminary estimates, will reach four billion pounds. As a result, Queen Elizabeth is cautiously scheduled for commissioning around 2020, and the timeline for the sistership has yet to be determined.
In principle, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the "Prince of Wells" was now listed as "mothballed at a low stage of readiness" (calling things by their proper names, they did not actually start building it). This situation again brings us back to the early 20s, when Great Britain defiantly issued orders for four high-speed battleships of the G-3 class, having no funds in the empty treasury for their construction. But then these four "future corps" were supposed to play the role of a bargaining chip in bargaining with the United States in the conclusion of the Washington agreements. With whom the United Kingdom intends to bargain now, mortgaging ships for which it has no money, is more difficult to understand.
PERSPECTIVE LONG-BUILT
If Great Britain still has, even if formally, two aircraft carriers, then in the French navy this class is represented only by the atomic Charles de Gaulle. A relatively new ship (entered into the fleet in 2000), "De Gaulle" was under construction for 11 long years, cost the treasury $ 3.2 billion, excluding the cost of the air group, all his life does not get out of repairs, accidents and lengthy re-equipment.
During the tests, there were incidents with reactors, and in the fall of 2000, a stunning failure occurred in the Atlantic: due to a technological defect that led to the formation of cavities in a solid ingot of metal, the left screw broke. In 2001, the aircraft carrier was again undergoing repairs, where it met September 11 and the beginning of the "war on terror". Former French President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing quipped that the country had built a "semi-aircraft carrier" for itself.
By the way, it should be noted that the Charles de Gaulle onboard electronic cartographic complex was created in Russia. But there were no complaints about its work: analogues of this system have proven themselves well in operation by private shipowners.
In 2007, "De Gaulle" was again put on a major overhaul. It was expected to be completed in 2012, but met by 2009. Catapults and aircraft lifts on the ship were replaced, turbines were replaced.
And just recently, "De Gaulle" left Toulon, with the goal of leading the fight against piracy in the waters of the Horn of Africa. The trip lasted exactly one day: the aircraft carrier revealed a failure of the electrical systems of the propulsion system. The ship returned back to Toulon, where it again and as usual got up for repairs.
France plans to commission the second aircraft carrier no earlier than 2017, and it should be an aircraft carrier built according to the adapted British project CV Future, like Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wells. But the financial crisis is making adjustments: at the moment, construction, additionally burdened by difficult approvals of technical solutions used in the British project, has been postponed. "Charles de Gaulle" with all its malfunctions remains the only French aircraft carrier, not counting the cruiser-helicopter carrier "Jeanne d'Arc". And then "Zhanna" is planned to be withdrawn from the fleet in the very near future due to high maintenance costs.
WHAT'S OUTPUT?
How to form a joint Franco-British squadron of combat-ready aircraft carriers in such conditions is not entirely clear. Of the three potential units of such a connection, one has been withdrawn from the fleet, another is suspended, and the remaining relatively new ship does not get out of the ship repair. At the same time, in order to save money, obsolete units are being mercilessly reduced, which could be used at least to work out the principles of interaction in a multinational aircraft carrier group.
However, some experts also express political objections. One of the planned features of the Franco-British grouping was to be the operation of ships in the interests of both countries on the principle of interchangeability. What will happen, the British are interested in, if a crisis like the 1982 Falklands War occurs at the time of the French "watch"? Will Paris sanction the military use of Charles de Gaulle in foreign waters?
In any case, it seems that we will not have the opportunity to test this thesis in practice. The reduction of the existing British aircraft carriers and the delay in the CV Future program (on both sides) will lead to the fact that both great (in the past) maritime powers will for some time be left without the most striking symbol of modern naval power - aircraft carriers, which have laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of taxpayers.
