The new UK CVF Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are expected to enter service in 2014 and 2016.

The design continues to evolve but CVF is expected to displace 65,000t, a size between the USA's 100,000t Nimitz class and the French 43,000t Charles de Gaulle class aircraft carriers, and three times larger than the 20,000t UK Invincible class carriers.

The carrier will have a maximum speed of 25kt. At 15kt the range is 10,000nm and the ship carries food, fuel and stores for an endurance of seven days between replenishments. Each ship will have a complement of typically 1,200, including 600 aircrew.

The CVF Integrated Project Team is managing the procurement programme on behalf of the Ministry of Defence Procurement Executive.


CVF CONTRACTORS

In January 2003 the Ministry of Defence announced that the preferred prime contractor for the UK Future Aircraft Carrier is BAE Systems with Thales UK as the key supplier. The industrial partnership between BAE Systems and Thales UK is known as the Future Carrier Alliance. In February 2005, Kellogg, Brown & Root UK (KBR) was appointed as preferred 'physical integrator' for the project and is responsible for developing the optimum manufacturing strategy. VT Group and Babcock have also joined the Alliance.

In December 2005, the UK MOD approved funding of the demonstration phase for detailed design of the carriers, the first part of the Main Gate decision. The second part, approval for construction, is expected by the end of 2006. It was also announced that 60% of the carriers would be built at four UK shipyards - BAE Systems Govan (hull block 4) and Barrow (block 3), VT Portsmouth (block 2) and Babcock Rosyth (bow block 1). Babcock will be responsible for final integration.

In April 2006, contracts were placed with Alliance members KBR, BAE Systems Naval Ships, Thales UK, VT Group, Babcock, and BAE Systems Insyte, for the demonstration phase design contracts.

In December 2006, the UK MoD announced that the second part of the Main Gate decision, approval for construction, would be delayed pending a commitment from manufacturers to a consolidation of naval shipbuilding as specified in the MoD's Maritime Industrial Strategy (MIS). If approved, a manufacturing contract will then be placed in June 2007 and construction could begin in late 2008.

The major contractors include BAE Systems - prime contractor; Thales Naval Ltd - key supplier; BAE Systems Insyte (formerly Alenia Marconi Systems) - C4IS; BMT Defence Systems - naval architecture; EDS - systems integration, fleet support, through life support; Lockheed Martin - programme management and engineering; QinetiQ - computer modelling and simulation, technology, test and evaluation; Rolls Royce - propulsion, life support; Strachan & Henshaw - waste management, munitions handling; Swan Hunter - construction; VT Group - naval architecture, construction, through life support.

In December 2005, following discussions between the UK and French governments on the possibility of co-operation with the design of the next French carrier, the PA2, it was agreed that France would pay one-third of the costs of the demonstration phase of a common baseline design of CVF. A memorandum of understanding to that effect was signed by the two nations in March 2006.

On 25 July, 2007, the Royal Navy confirmed that it had signed a £3.8bn contract for what are now classed as the largest vessels ever sailed by the Royal Navy.

The work will be shared among a number of companies, including BAE Systems' Govan and Scotstoun yards in Glasgow, which employ 3,000 people.

The Ministry of Defence said that about 40% of the carriers work would be carried out by the joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group – 15% in Portsmouth and 25% in Glasgow. Thales and Babcock will carry out 16% of the work and the remainder will be carried out by BAE Systems at Barrow by its integrated system technologies division.


CVF AIRCRAFT CARRIER HULL

The Maritime Group at QinetiQ have developed a suite of advanced modelling and simulation programs which are being used by the QinetiQ and DPA teams with BAE Systems and the major contractors to characterise the hull, flight deck, hangar deck, internal carrier design and other features.

The hull designs are being planned for a 50-year service life and are currently being configured with a ski ramp for Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) operations. The carrier's service life is substantially longer than the 20-year service life of the selected F-35 STOVL carrier aircraft. The DPA has decided the carriers will be upgradeable to a Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) design, so the option will be available to operate conventional maritime aircraft. The hull will be nine-decks deep plus the flight deck.

A number of protective measures such as side armour and armoured bulkheads proposed by industrial bid teams have been deleted from the design in order to comply with cost limitations.


JOINT COMBAT AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS

The carrier will support Joint Combat Aircraft carrying out up to 420 sorties over five days and be able to conduct day and night time operations. The maximum sortie rate is 110 Joint Combat Aircraft sorties per 24-hour period.

The standard airgroup of 40 aircraft includes the Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, the EH-101 Merlin helicopter and the Maritime Surveillance and Control aircraft (MASC).

The maximum launch rate is 24 aircraft in 15 minutes and the maximum recovery rate is 24 aircraft in 24 minutes.

The MASC airborne early warning aircraft will succeed the Sea King ASaC Mk 7 helicopter. The MASC assessment phase was launched in September 2005. In May 2006, three study contracts were awarded for MASC platform and mission systems options. The contracts were awarded to: Lockheed Martin UK to study the potential of using the Merlin with AEW mission systems, AgustaWestland to study maintaining the Sea King ASaC Mk 7 to 2017 and Thales UK to study upgrading the Sea King's mission systems. The studies are to be completed by the end of 2007.

In July 2006, two further study contracts for the enhanced manned rotary-wing solution were awarded to EADS Defence & Security Systems UK and Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems.

The hanger deck, 155m x 33.5m x 6.7m to 10m high, accommodates up to 20 fixed and rotary wing aircraft.


ISLANDS

Instead of a traditional single island, a current ship design has two smaller islands. The forward island is for ship control functions and the aft (FLYCO) island is for flying control.

Advantages of the two island configuration are increased flight deck area, reduced air turbulence over the flight deck and increased flexibility of space allocation in the lower decks. The flight control centre in the aft island is in the optimum position for control of the critical aircraft approach and deck landings.

Depending on budget availability, the radar fit will include a BAE Systems Insyte Sampson multi-function radar on the forward island and an Insyte S1850M air surveillance radar on the aft FLYCO island.

The S1850M air surveillance radar, operating at 1GHz to 2GHz, is an electronically stabilised multibeam radar, operating up to an elevation of 0° to 70° and providing automatic target detection and tracking to a range of 400km.

The Sampson multifunction radar includes two phased array antennae planes which are rotated and which scan electronically in azimuth and in elevation to provide 360° coverage.

The four-sided pyramidal masthead with a spherical low-loss glass fibre reinforced plastic radome gives the Sampson radar its distinctive appearance.


AIRCRAFT CARRIER DECK

The deck will support simultaneous launch and recovery operations. The deck is fitted with a 13° bow deck ski jump.

No catapult or arresters will be fitted in the initial build but the carrier will be built to accommodate a future back-fit. The carrier will be fitted with a steam catapult or electromagnetic launch system and arrester gear, if the option to convert the carrier to the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant proceeds.

The deck has three runways: two shorter runways of approximately 160m for the STOVL Joint Strike Fighter and a long runway, approximately 260m over the full length of the carrier, for launching heavily loaded aircraft – an area of nearly 13,000m². The deck will have one or two vertical landing pads for the F-35 aircraft towards the stern of the ship.

Jet Blast Deflectors will be fitted on each runway 160m back from the bow ski jump and probably in line with the rear wall of the first island. The deflectors protect the deck from the blast of the F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft engines operating at maximum thrust for take-off.

There will be two large 70t-load deck-edge aircraft lifts to transfer aircraft between the hangar and flight decks, one between the islands and one to the aft of the FLYCO island.

QinetiQ and the US Navy carried out a study on an electromagnetic catapult launcher. Early studies indicated that a 300ft-long, 90MW linear motor would be needed for the CVF, but both MOD and UK industry would wish to see the results of demonstrations and trials of electromagnetic launcher technology before considering the selection of a launch system.

An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is to be developed by General Atomics in USA for the USN CVN-21 aircraft carrier. The maturity of EMALS technology for integration into UK CVF will be assessed as the US CVN-21 program progresses.


SYSTEMS

Communications systems will include Joint Tactical Information and Distribution System (JTIDS) and Links 10, 11, 14 and 16. The carrier might be built for but not with the installation of a close in weapons system.

Another system which could be fitted if budget were made available would be two 16-cell vertical launchers for the Aster missiles.


AIRCRAFT CARRIER PROPULSION

The MOD has decided not to use nuclear propulsion because of high cost, and several alternative configurations have been considered for the propulsion system, including a 25MW WR21 gas turbine, as used on the Type 45 frigate, and a podded propulsion system based on Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP).

A configuration currently being considered is based on two Rolls Royce Marine Trent 36MW MT30 gas turbine alternators driving two electric motors. The motors power fixed conventional propeller shafts.

CVF will have two bronze propellers, each 6.7m in diameter and weighing 33t. The anchors will be 3.1m in height and weigh 13t.

CVF will carry over 8,600t of fuel to support both the vessel and aircraft.



Specifications - CVF - Royal Navy Future Aircraft Carrier, United Kingdom

Ship Crew-600
Airgroup Crew-Up to 900

Dimensions
Overall Length-284m
Beam-73m
Draught (Keel to Waterline)-11m
Length at Waterline-250m
Beam at Waterline-36.6m
Full Load Displacement-65,000t
Depth to Top of Masthead-56m

Performance
Maximum Speed-25kt
Economical Speed-15kt
Range-10,000nm
Ship Availability-(Two Ships) 584 ship days a year
Endurance Between Replenishment-7 days
Interval Between Dockings-6 years
Upkeep Interval-6 months maximum

Propulsion
Rolls Royce MT30 Gas Turbines-2 x 36MW
Auxiliary Diesel Generators-2 x 7MW
Emergency diesel generators-2MW each
Electric Motors 2 x 30MW
Shafts 2

Aviation Facilities
Hanger Capacity-20 aircraft
Hangar Length-155m
Hangar Width-33.5m
Hangar Height-6.7m
Deck Edge Lifts-2