In five years’ time, if everything goes according to plan, the Royal Navy’s first dedicated

aircraft carrier for decades should be sailing out of Portsmouth Naval Base ready for action, loaded with Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short take-off/vertical landing jets and AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 helicopters.Getting HMS Queen Elizabeth and its

sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales to the point where they are almost complete in Rosyth dockyard, has taken almost two decades of work and, crucially, political manoeuvring. Simply building the ships has cost more than £6 billion and, not surprisingly, the two carriers will be at the heart of British defence planning for the foreseeable future.

Carrier PedigreeThe Navy has more than 103 years’ experience in operating aircraft from ships, dating back to May 9, 1912, when Commander Charles Rumney Samson became the first airman to take off from a moving warship. His Short S.38 lifted off from the battleship HMS Hibernia as it steamed at 15kts (28km/h) during the Royal Fleet Review at Weymouth, England.Just over two years later, the Navy launched

the first ever warship dedicated to operating aircraft. Named HMS Ark Royal, it had been lain down as a merchant ship, but midway through its construction the Admiralty acquired it, fitting a flat deck and cranes so seaplanes could be launched and recovered.

Within months another aircraft carrier, HMS Furious, was under construction and in 1917 Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning made the first landing on the ship, as it was under way in Scapa Flow off Orkney.In the 1920s and 1930s the Royal Navy

experimented with larger and better carriers, also developing aircraft and weapons to fly from them. It was a period of naval warfare transition between the dominance of the battleship and the rise of the aircraft carrier. Revolutionary thinkers in navies around the world could see the potential of the carrier and embarked air wing, but their ideas had yet to be tried in battle. This changed on November 11, 1940 when

HMS Illustrious launched a strike force of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers to attack the main port of the Italian fleet at Taranto. The daring strike took the Italians by surprise and, within minutes, half the fleet was at the bottom of the harbour. Only two Swordfish were lost, the attack changing the balance of naval power

in the Mediterranean literally overnight. The potency of British naval airpower

was demonstrated again six months later, when Swordfish launched from the second carrier to bear the name HMS Ark Royal found and crippled the mighty German battleship B ismarck in the North Atlantic. The golden age of British aircraft carriers in

the 1950s and 1960s saw the Navy fielding jet fighters, airborne early warning aircraft and anti-submarine helicopters from their decks. During the period the Royal Navy introduced the angled flight deck, allowing simultaneous launch and recovery of jet aircraft.Admiralty ambitions to build a

63,000-ton supercarrier, CVA 01, in the 1960s were scuppered by defence cuts and the service instead set in train plans to build the three new Invincible-

Below: HMS Queen Elizabeth (R 08) at Rosyth dockyard, Scotland, following her naming ceremony on July 4, 2015. The F-35B on the ski-jump is a full-scale mock-up brought in for the occassion. MOD Crown Copyright/CPOA(Phot) Thomas Tam McDonald

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RULING THEWAVES AGAIN...

‘the two carriers will be at the heart of British defence planning for the

foreseeable future.’

The Royal Navy’s new carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth is on track for completion next year. Tim Ripley reports.

class through-deck cruisers (aircraft carriers in all but name). These 22,000-ton carriers became inextricably linked with the 1982 Falklands War and iconic Sea Harrier fighter, HMS Invincible and Illustrious both deploying south to join combat. In the 1990s, the Royal Navy began

working up designs for what became the Queen Elizabeth-class and in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair gave the formal go-ahead for research and development to begin. Almost a decade passed before the design was finalised and contracts were eventually placed in

2007, with first metal cut at Rosyth and several other shipyards around Britain. Escalating costs and technical problems delayed the work and in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review

(SDSR) the Navy had to sacrifice its last operational carrier, HMS Ark Royal, to help find the money to sustain the new carrier programme.

Carrier CapabilityHMS Queen Elizabeth is now 70% complete, with power systems up and running and radar turning. The Royal Navy is deciding how the ship and its air wing will be utilised. The crew is

already aboard preparing for sea trials next August and the

ship is planned to ‘undock’ in April 2017, before handover a month later. HMS Prince of Wales is scheduled to enter

service in 2020.

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Rear Admiral Keith Blount, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Aviation, Amphibious Capability and Carriers), is the senior reporting officer for the carrier programme and responsible for the ships’ entry into service. He told a briefing at the 2015 Defence & Security Equipment International event that carriers were: “Not just naval assets but capabilities that can be used to support army and air force operations. Britain still has a global foreign policy and we are free to move the carriers where we want”.In September 2014, Prime Minister David

Cameron marked a key decision in the carrier programme when he committed the Navy to standing up a “Continuous carrier capability”. The government had previously been unclear whether HMS Prince of Wales would enter service, leaving the Royal Navy taking ‘carrier strike capability holidays’ when HMS Queen Elizabeth had to go into dock for refit or repair. With both carriers in service one will always

be ready to conduct operations with at least a squadron of F-35Bs embarked. The other ship could then be in refit, carrying out work-up training or employed as a commando carrier for the Royal Marines, with transport helicopters embarked. The Royal Navy is making plans for a readiness

cycle to synchronise this activity from the end of the decade, managing availability and ensuring fixed-wing and helicopter squadrons are ready to operate from the vessels.According to Rear Admiral Blount, the carriers

will always sail within a maritime task group including warships and support vessels. This protects them and makes them self-sustaining far out to sea, without support from land-based assets. This is the classic embodiment of aircraft carriers, as mobile sovereign airfields that can be moved around the world unencumbered by the need to remain within range of land-based aircraft. He added: “The carriers will change the way the Royal Navy operates.”The Navy is working on three main concepts

of carrier operations to give future the UK a wide range of strategic options. They will be conducted nationally or in coalition operations. The first core mission, Carrier Strike is a classic power projection mission to launch offensive air operations against opponents with modern integrated air defence networks. This could combine air attacks in the opening hours of

an air offensive using the F-35B’s ‘day-one’ stealth capability to knock down enemy air defences, with Raytheon BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from Astute-class nuclear submarines or surface ships. The carrier strike force mix could be ‘plug-

and-play’, said RAdm Blount, including US Marine Corps F-35Bs operating from the new carriers; the Crowsnest airborne early warning system, fitted to Merlin maritime helicopters, will be an integral part of the capability. Meanwhile, Merlin HM2s would create an anti-submarine screen and perform surface surveillance around the maritime task group. Next, the rear admiral discussed the

Expeditionary Strike concept, involving the embarkation of a squadron of F-35Bs and Royal Marine Commandos, with transport helicopters to take the troops ashore. This force mix is intended to place a landing party ashore in the face of a determined enemy, the F-35Bs providing close air support. If a suitable airstrip were secured, the F-35Bs could disembark and continue to support the amphibious assault as it moves inland.Littoral Manoeuvre is the third operational

concept, envisaged as a mission in coastal

waters against a lightly armed opponent, insurgents or pirates, or within a humanitarian mission. It combines a Royal Marines landing force with a full spectrum of helicopter support, including Chinook HC4/5/6 and Merlin HC4 transports to lift troops and their supplies ashore. The offensive element includes capabilities to find and strike land and sea targets, with Apache AH1 attack, Wildcat AH1 scout and Merlin HM2 maritime surveillance helicopters.

High Gear PreparationWith the months counting down to HMS Queen Elizabeth sailing out of Rosyth, RAdm Blount and his colleagues are moving preparations into high gear, ready to accept the vessel into service in 2017. The project will gain momentum, since a series of critical milestones have to be passed in quick succession for a credible front line capability to be fielded.The Military Aviation Authority will be heavily

involved, ensuring the ship and its embarked aircraft can perform safely under operational conditions. Gaining release to service for aircraft flying from HMS Queen Elizabeth is an essential ‘tick in the box’ and an extensive flight-test

‘With both carriers in service one will always be ready to conduct operations with at least a squadron of F-35Bs embarked.’

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programme is at the core of the process.The release to service process not only tests

aircraft and ship systems, but sets training standards for air crews and flight deck personnel. In the long period since the Navy operated fixed-wing aircraft from a carrier, it has sent dozens of personnel to serve on US and French carriers, avoiding skill fade by ensuring they return with experience to keep the Navy ahead during the release to service process. Once HMS Queen Elizabeth’s crew has

mastered sailing the ship, it will begin to work with all the main UK helicopter types. This will happen in UK waters and will include test deck landings and take-offs, plus stowage and maintenance, before moving to complex mixed-type helicopter operations on deck. This is considered the most straightforward element of the entry to service process, a key rationale for completing this first stage.During 2018 the process will move towards

fixed-wing operations and Royal Navy officers see this as the real test of the validity of the release to service process. In mid-2018, HMS Queen Elizabeth is to set sail across the Atlantic to conduct F-35B integration trials off the US east coast. The joint US/UK F-35B

Integrated Task Force has already carried out the initial stage of these tests at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, including live take-offs from a ski jump built at the edge of the airfield’s runway. US Navy carriers do not have ski jumps and the UK is funding and conducting this part of the programme itself.There has been considerable controversy

over whether the first F-35B to land on HMS Queen Elizabeth will be a British aircraft flown by a British pilot. The MOD has recognised the symbolic significance of the moment and a UK aircraft will undoubtedly line up to fly this symbolic mission, with a ‘Brit’ at the controls.The later phases of F-35B integration trials,

however, will be fully multinational, with US Marine Corps aircraft and pilots playing a full role since the UK’s first operational F-35B unit, the RAF’s 617 Squadron, will not be fully up and running. Once the famous ‘Dambusters’ have fully converted to the F-35B during 2018 and achieved Initial Operating Capability (Land) at RAF Marham, Norfolk, the unit will prepare for full operational trials in HMS Queen Elizabeth.This phase of the carrier’s entry to service

will take place in UK waters during 2019; it will involve mass take-offs and landings, live

ordnance drops and onboard maintenance. This is considered the critical test of the carrier programme and will pave the way for the declaration of Initial Operating Capability (Sea) in 2020, when at least nine F-35Bs will be available to embark on HMS Queen Elizabeth. Full operating capability is targeted for 2022, when the Crowsnest system will be in use and the second UK F-35B unit, 809 Naval Air Squadron, will be fully established.

Above: The observer's panel on a Fleet Air Arm Merlin HM2 anti-submarine helicopter. The Merlins will operate as an ASW asset from the new carriers and also provide surface surveillance around the maritime task group. MOD Crown Copyright/Andrew LinnettLeft: An impression of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales berthed in the shadow of the Royal Navy's legendary HMS Victory at Portsmouth Dockyard. Middle Slip Jetty and Victory Jetty will be improved as part of a £100 million investment in the base and harbour for the new carriers. MOD Crown Copyright

Left: The second UK F-35B Lightning II, ZM136, takes off from Eglin AFB, Florida, on May 20, 2013. A squadron of the type will be the primary air asset on the two new Royal Navy carriers, along with Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopters. MOD Crown CopyrightRight: An Army Air Corps Apache AH1 from 664 Squadron and a Royal Air Force Chinook practicing deck landings on board the carrier HMS Illustrious (R 06) on July 19, 2011. Both types will be deployed on board the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers to support littoral operations, providing strike and transport capabilities, respectively. MOD Crown Copyright/POA(Phot) Ray Jones

Carrier FutureThe successful delivery of the carrier and arrival of its air wing will end a decade-long ‘capability holiday’ caused by the retirement of HMS Ark Royal in 2011. It is clear Rear Admiral Blount and his Royal Navy colleagues are proud of their e� orts to build HMS Queen Elizabeth and bring it into service. The pioneers of carrier aviation 100 years ago would be awestruck simply by the scale of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s deck – it is the largest warship ever to enter service with the Royal Navy and will transform UK air operations in a wide spectrum of missions. “UK carrier strike capability is coming soon,” said RAdm Blount. “We have stu� to do to really get it right.”

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