UK MOD in a muddle over F-35C

spazsinbad wrote:Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers in Operation

"Published on May 21, 2013
A glimpse of what the finished ships will look like when fully operational"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... syAt3jXq4s

"I would like to see the animation actually show a STO ski jump takeoff..."

""https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/203323/20130524_mod_gmpp_data.ods

Since I'm not a Windows or MS Excel user I've posted the open-office format link. This is the parent page:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... r-mod-2013

Here is the extract about the carriers:

Project name: QEC Aircraft Carriers
Department: MOD
MPA RAG rating
(A Delivery Confidence Assessment of the project at a fixed point in time, using a five-point scale, Red – Amber/Red – Amber – Amber/Green – Green; definitions in the MPA Annual Report):
Red
Description / aims:
The programme will deliver two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft carriers, configured to operate Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft. The carriers will form an integral part of the UK's Carrier Strike capability.
Departmental narrative, actions on Delivery Confidence Assessment :
Assembly of HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth is progressing well with over 38,000 tonnes of ship in the dock at Rosyth. The ship will be largely structurally complete by the end of this year and she will be “floated-out” next year. Construction of HMS Prince of Wales is also well underway, with all the lower block units in build and centre blocks 03 and 04. The RAG assessment [RED] is largely owing to ongoing re-baselining encompassing a wide range of factors (e.g. build strategy, implications of STOVL reversion decision) that need to be considered. Once this work has completed, the Department will seek re-approval of the programme in 2013.
Project - start date 12/01/1998
Project - end date 12/01/2018
Departmental narrative on schedule, including any deviation from planned schedule :
Project is currently being re-baselined and as a result we will be updating our previously agreed dates once this work has concluded. We expect Sea Trials for the first ship to begin in 2017, followed by Flying Trials with the Lightning II aircraft in 2018 and achievement of Initial Operating Capability in 2020. Dates will be confirmed as part of project re-approval in 2013.
2012/13 Budget (£million) 657.723 2012/13 Forecast (£million)
658.500
Total budgeted whole life costs (£million)
(including non-government costs)
Departmental narrative on budget/forecast variance for 2012/13
(if variance is more than 5%)
Not required as variance is with +/- 5%.
Departmental narrative on budgeted whole life costs"

"...Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many F-35B Lightning II aircraft his Department ordered in the first batch for delivery. [157885]
Mr Dunne: Aircraft within the F-35 programme are ordered annually. To date, the Ministry of Defence has procured three aircraft spread over two annual contracts. We intend to order the fourth F-35B aircraft in the next annual production contract later this year.

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total projected fleet size is for the F-35B Lightning II aircraft; when those aircraft are expected to enter service; and what the estimated unit cost is for the whole fleet. [157887]
Mr Dunne: The final fleet size for the F-35B will not be determined before the next Strategic Defence and Security Review at the earliest.

The F-35B is expected to enter service with an initial operating capability from land in 2016, and an initial operating capability from sea in 2018.

Unit costs for the whole F-35 fleet cannot be estimated until the total fleet size is determined.

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he expects F-35B Lightning II aircraft to take part in the carrier sea trials in 2017. [157888]
Mr Dunne: F-35B trials from the Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier are scheduled to take place in 2018. This follows the first F-35B Squadron undergoing training in the US from 2016....
&
...Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a second batch of F-35B Lightning II aircraft are included in the Single Integrated Capability Priority list. [157886]
Mr Dunne: Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) is a core funded programme and is not included in the Single Integrated Capability Priority list. A decision on F-35 aircraft numbers will not be made until after the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015...."

lookieloo wrote:Just realized something. In the months between the RN going active with the F-35B and the USN going active with the F-35C, the UK is going to have the most effective TACAIR carriers in the world. Hail Britannia!

"Published on Jun 28, 2013
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/RvMVLq
The UK's biggest aircraft carrier has moved a step closer to completion after its 750-tonne control tower was lowered on to the deck.The aft island of HMS Queen Elizabeth was built in a yard on the River Clyde in Glasgow and sailed on a barge to Rosyth, Fife, last week to join the other parts of the ship."

"...the huge aft island was lifted into place. Now the only significant structural units remaining to be installed are the extreme aft corners of the flight deck Sponsons SP11 and SP12.

Since it was shipped in March this year a lot of work has been done on the forward island to structurally consolidate it to the sponson structure below, to connect the gas turbine and diesel uptake and downtake trunking and to progress the system installation across the boundary. The island is at an advanced stage of outfit with the majority of the Mission System and other equipment already installed. The protective coverings on three of the windows in the observation bridge, one deck below the main bridge, have been replaced with perspex sheets so that the view forward and across the flight deck to port can be seen.

The design of the forward island and the open bridge wings and platforms provide a surprisingly good all round view considering the constraints of an aircraft carrier geometry. The view forward and to starboard is excellent with the bow of the ship being incongruously apparently a long way away to port.

There cannot be many ships where it is possible to see the bulbous bow from the bridge even when in dry dock. The view aft to the aircraft lifts is also excellent and across the wide expanse of flight deck.

Whereas the forward island is predominantly about navigating the ship, the aft island is all about flying control. The aft island has been built at BAE Systems yard at Scotstoun on the Clyde and in June was loaded out onto a barge and transported to Rosyth arriving under the iconic Forth Bridge on 21st June and shortly afterwards brought ashore. It was lifted into place on July 1, with a brief ceremony marking the occasion. Like the forward island, which was built at Portsmouth, the aft island is at a very high state of completion and on structural consolidation the Flyco compartment, which has been built as a module by TEX ATC ltd will be installed onto the seats on the port side of the island. This Flyco structure is arranged over two deck levels and includes huge windows giving unrivalled views across the flight deck and up the glide path where incoming aircraft will be approaching. It contains banks of consoles from which the Flying Control Officer and Landing Safety Officer will operate. The ergonomics of this compartment are vital to the efficient flying operations of the aircraft carrier and during the design phase a wooden full scale mock-up of the Flyco was manufactured at Portsmouth and used to carry out simulated operations to prove the design...."

"...Looking further out into the future, the FAA is preparing itself for the introduction of the two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers that will come into service at the end of the decade. Despite the withdrawal of the Harrier and the disbandment of the Naval Strike Wing, there has been no break in fixed-wing pilot recruitment and training. A small number of RN pilots are flying F-18 Hornets operationally with the US Navy. Personnel are also heavily engaged in the F-35B Lightning II programme with RN pilots and maintainers in the first training unit, VMFAT-501, at Eglin Air Force Base. Together, the RN and RAF have developed a comprehensive plan for the introduction of the Lightning II. We are standing up F-35B maintenance units from both the RAF and RN. Some of these men and women have transferred to a US-based training establishment which may be there for up to six years before transferring back to the UK. In addition, we are now in the process of setting up the test and evaluation squadron to be followed by the UK Operational Conversion Unit...."

"HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and her sister ship PRINCE OF WALES are the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. The first ship, QUEEN ELIZABETH, a 65,000-ton super carrier, is scheduled to enter the water in 2014. Equipped with F-35B Lightning II multi-role jets and Merlin helicopters, the carriers will also be capable of operating British Army Apache and Royal Air force Chinook helicopters. The first ship is scheduled Introducing the Queen Elizabeth class with its Lightning II F-35Bs to be handed over to the Royal Navy in 2016. At sites in the United Kingdom and United States, preparations are well under way for the introduction of the F-35B, while the carrier’s procedures are also being perfected....

...PREPARING FOR THE CARRIERS
One of the first steps in preparing for the Queen Elizabeth class carriers has been the opening in 2012 of an engineering development facility for the mission system, which is the carrier’s nerve centre. It combines systems for air-traffic control, navigation, tactical picture compilation, communications and mission planning for the F-35 fighters and for the Merlin helicopters. This facility, at shore base HMS COLLINGWOOD in Hampshire, is completing engineering tests and trials using the same equipment that will be fitted to QUEEN ELIZABETH in Rosyth, Scotland. One of the ship’s unique features is two, instead of one, ‘island‘ superstructures on the flight deck, and the mission system will occupy the rearmost island, which is devoted to flying operations.

Being located in HMS COLLINGWOOD, it allows Royal Navy trainees to take part in large-scale trials from the start. The Royal Navy says: “By manning every Operations Room position with Royal Navy personnel ensures the equipment can be tested and loaded to its full capacity – something that has never been done before with previous mission systems.”

The first classes of UK maintenance personnel to work with the F-35B have completed courses at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and one pilot each from the Royal Navy and RAF started instructor pilot training on the F-35B in late 2012, making them the first international instructors trained on the fighter.

Even after the ending of the Joint Harrier force in January 2011, when the Royal Navy’s 800 Naval Air Squadron disbanded, the Fleet Air Arm kept a core of almost 40 fixed-wing pilots, several of whom have been assigned to training programmes with the US Navy and are keeping their skills sharp by flying the F/A-18C Super Hornet fighter. Some of those pilots will go on to fly the F-35B, and more pilots will be recruited.

Royal Navy maintainers began training on the F-35B at the Academic Training Center at Eglin in July 2012. When the F-35B is operated from the new carrier, Royal Navy personnel in the trade of Air Engineering Technician will be in the ship to look after the aircraft. This trade covers mechanical, electrical, avionics or weapons specialities. Trade courses on the F-35, which are first a matter of ‘instructing the instructors’, are being steadily stepped up during 2013.

The ship’s company has already started to assemble, with a team of eight Royal Navy personnel wearing the cap tally ‘Queen Elizabeth’ working with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance shipbuilders at Rosyth since 2012. They are developing operating procedures and routines in advance of when the ship is handed over, which is scheduled for 2016.

The second ship in class is HMS PRINCE OF WALES, now under construction and scheduled to be commissioned in 2018. Before then, in 2015, further orders for the F-35B are expected to follow the 48 currently in the programme, and the UK’s supercarrier force will rapidly become operational. The F-35B will provide a faster route to carrier operational capability than the conventional take-off and landing F-35C, which was once schemed. These would have required catapults and arrestor wires to be fitted to the carrier, delaying its entry into service."

"...Another significant milestone occurred in October, when the first members of the ship’s company of HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH arrived in Rosyth. The eight crew members were led by Captain Simon Petitt. It is expected that, by the end of 2013, that this number will have grown to between 75 and 80 people. It will be the job of Captain Petitt and his growing team to learn about the ship and her technology, and to write the operating policy and procedures that will enable her to come into service in 2020....

...F-35B DELIVERIES BEGIN
Also significant was the delivery of Britain’s first F-35B, in a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas, in July – an event that was attended attended by Philip Hammond. Despite the U-turn on the F-35 variant, the US Navy has stuck to its offer to provide pilot training and other carrier crew opportunities, so that the British can maintain carrier-operating skills. The French Navy will also offer what assistance it can from its own carrier capability.

Yet, with Britain for the moment still committed to buying only 48 F-35s initially, in a joint project with both the RN and the RAF, debate continued behind the scenes over operational issues. How many jets would normally be based at sea, and in what circumstances? Hammond appeared to settle that argument at the beginning of November. In a speech in London he declared that, “when deployed outside home waters, the new carrier will routinely have Lightning II jets embarked with personnel from both services”. He also confirmed that the normal number of jets would be 12, but with the ability to surge when necessary, and the QE class will be able to accommodate up to 36 F-35s.

Hammond also gave the strongest hint to date that the RN would keep both carriers available for operations. The cost of maintenance and a skeleton crew for the second ship would be, he said, a “modest” £70m. In his opinion, that was “an extremely good investment” to have a continuous carrier capability and the ability, “in extremis”, to surge to two carriers at a time of tension. For the RN, that would clearly be a tantalising prospect. But it is beginning to take on a tangible shape."

"...Once the first UK pilots have completed their training at Eglin, which began on 19 March 2013, they will be used as instructor pilots to train USMC colleagues, gaining experience and knowledge of the F-35 before undertaking Operational Test on a joint operational unit from mid 2014. Beyond Operational Test, the UK’s first operational squadron will form in the US from 2016 as part of a joint effort with the USMC, transitioning back to the UK in 2018. To be RAF Marham in Morfolk, it will work up as an independent unit aiming to attain a land-based Initial Operating Capability (IOC) by the end of 2018, which matches the arrival of the first of the new aircraft carriers, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, when embarked flying trials will get under way. It is planned to reach maritime IOC by 2020.

Speaking to Global Reach, Commodore Rick Thompson RN, head of the JCA Lighting Project Team at the MoD, was enthusiastic over not just the capability that Lightning II will bring to the UK, but also the joint nature in which it has been procured and is being introduced into service thus far. “The success of this small team spread across the US and UK is its truly Joint nature, delivering the OT aircraft on time and within budget,” he said. “It is impressive what can be achieved when you have a single joint vision with Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and US Marine Corps pilots, maintainers and logisticians all working together in a ‘purple’ environment to deliver a common, world-beating capability.”

The F-35, Thompson said, “is capable, survivable and based on commonality across all three variants to ensure affordability. It will contribute to the widest range of operational roles, ashore and afloat, and has been optimised for expeditionary warfare.”

"Last week the first of five ramp sections was lifted onto HMS Queen Elizabeth; this was three months ahead of schedule."

"...Thanks to an agreement with Washington - the US-UK Long Lead Specialist Skills Programme - a kernel of around 300 personnel from both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will be trained aboard American warships until the end of the decade.
Since the beginning of 2013, RN personnel have been serving with the assault ship USS Kearsarge and the Eisenhower. This month an eight-strong group of Brits joins USS Harry S Truman....
..."It is important that we learn about using these large flight decks," he [CPO Gager] added"