|
This page relates to the future aircraft carrier for the Royal Navy. For information about the planned Marine Nationale carrier, built to a similar design please see Future French aircraft carrier.
 Thales Design CVF, literally Aircraft Carrier Future, but commonly called the Future Carrier is a new generation of aircraft carrier being developed for the UK's Royal Navy. The vessels will displace approximately 60,000 tonnes - almost three times the displacement of the current British Invincible class of aircraft carriers.
Background The vessels will be the largest and most powerful surface warships ever built in the UK and the most capable aircraft carriers outside of the U.S. Navy.
Total cost of the development and production is put at £3Bn ($5.5Bn) The carriers will be based in Portsmouth, Hampshire. The requirement for the carriers was confirmed in the new Labour government's Strategic Defence Review in 1998. Two ships of the class are planned, with constant rumors of France building a carrier to the same design. The French Navy is understood to be unwilling to proceed with another nuclear powered carrier of the Charles de Gaulle design due to the problems experienced both building and operating that ship.
While it has been suggested that reducing the carrier force by one vessel will lead to a reduction in the ability of the Royal Navy to project carrier air power, it is planned that advanced design and maintenance techniques will eliminate the present requirement for major refits. At present one carrier is in active duty (R2 - 2 days readiness,) one in reserve or refit (R6 - 60 days notice) and a third in training or maintenance.
Design An alliance of BAE Systems, Thales UK and the British Ministry of Defence will develop and build the aircraft carriers from the Thales Group design. The first steel is due to be cut in 2006 and the two carriers should enter service in 2012 and 2015.
Assembly is expected to be carried out at Rosyth in Scotland, United Kingdom on the Firth of Forth, a mile (1.6 km) south of Dunfermline.
Carrier Air Group They are designed to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35 (JSF). The vessels are expected to be capable of carrying 48 F-35s, four airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft and six support/anti-submarine helicopters, for example the AgustaWestland EH101. The crew will be about 600, only 15 more than the Invincible, indicating the high level of automation being integrated into the ships' systems.
Powerplant The MOD has decided not to use nuclear propulsion for the aircraft carrier because of high costs. The carrier's propulsion system will be Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) based on four gas turbines. It is expected that the Royal Navy will continue its investment in the WR-21 advanced cycle gas turbine engines for the carrier. The optimum location for the position of the main propulsion system is being examined, with maximising the hangar space below decks a major consideration. The unrefuelled range of the carrier will be 10,000nm.
Future proof The UK has opted to build a larger carrier than strictly necessary for operation of the STOVL F-35 version. This allows the carrier to be designed for, but not with, catapults and arrestor wires for conventional aircraft launch and recovery (CTOL.) The carrier is thus said to be future-proof, allowing it to operate a generation of aircraft beyond the F-35.
Size issues It has been alleged that the large size of the carrier is a major problem. With the proposed specification of 65,000 tonnes displacement and a length of 274m (900ft), it will be difficult for them to routinely and safely enter and berth at either of the RN's main two naval bases, Portsmouth Naval Base and Devonport Naval Base. Moreover, there is no suitable dry dock for a CVF at either base, the No.10 Dock at Devonport being restricted to ships of about 40,000 tonnes and 259m (850ft) length, while the biggest two docks at Portsmouth are slightly smaller (259 m long with a 33m beam, 256 m long respectively). Lengthening of any of these docks, or the construction of a new dry dock, would be a major and expensive exercise.
Recent developments While announcing major restructuring of the British armed forces as part of the Delivering Security in a Changing World review the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon confirmed the purchase of the vessels. During the same speech, on July 21 2004, he announced a one year delay to allow contractural and cost issues to be resolved.
Naming In 1998 George Robertson joked that the best way to guarantee funding for the programme was to name the lead ship HMS Gordon Brown, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Although not confirmed, the following names have been leaked and reported in the UK media;
See Also | 
Feeds |
Contact