Friday, August 25, 2017

Road to Carrier Enabled Power Projection


The ships

HMS Queen Elizabeth will be in port for a few more weeks before heading out for another round of trials. There is still plenty to do: the ship has not yet received its weapons (Phalanx CIWS mounts and DS30M 30mm guns), for example. While she is in port she is getting further elements of the deck visual aids installed, and there will be no doubt further touch-ups on the list. Judging from CGIs and from the metallic frame well visible, the forward island should get a large display which is still missing. When she goes out to sea again, she’ll be more complete.

Testing the Firefighting Foam Spray system 

Testing the pre-wetting system for CBRN washdown 

There is still plenty to be tested, too. So far, Queen Elizabeth has not used her Mission System. Only navigation radars have been in use, while Artisan and LRR have been kept motionless. The next phase of trials will almost certainly focus on this area, to get to the point when the Royal Navy can commission her. That should happen by the end of the year or in early 2018. As of now, the Queen Elizabeth is still contractor owned and does not fly the White Ensign.






A further period of defect rectification and capability insertion is planned for next year. That’s when the F-35 related kit, beginning with the ALIS computers and ending, probably, with the planned complement of mission simulators to be carried onboard at all times.
The Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS) AN/SPN-41/41A, which provides all weather instrument approach guidance from the ship to the aircraft, might also only appear onboard during this period of works. Currently, the space reserved for the AN/SPN-41 Azimuth aerial is still empty.
The AN/SPN-41 is found on all American aircraft carriers, LHDs and LHA, as well as on the Italian carrier Cavour. It has a large, flat antenna installed on the stern of the carrier, for the provision of Azimuth data, and a second element, for elevation, found normally on the back of the island.
The particularly powerful and hot downwash of an F-35B coming in for a vertical landing has however introduced the necessity for appropriate shielding of the Azimuth component. The three vessels that the US Navy has so far refitted for F-35B operations (USS Wasp, USS America and USS Essex) are a good example: their stern area has been re-arranged, moving some equipment around (Phalanx CIWS mounts, most notably) and building a protective box around other pieces, including the 41’s antenna.
On HMS Queen Elizabeth, the 41 Azimuth component is contained within a specially designed sponson which was rapidly worked into the design and into the building process after the MOD requested it in November 2013, when the F-35 had completed two periods of Development Trials at sea on USS Wasp (DT-1 in October 2011 and DT-2 in august 2013.

The AN/SPN-41 is among the systems that still have to be installed 

Other equipment yet to be filled includes the Height Indicator Hover Aid Thermometer (HIHAT) which will appear on the forward island. A good view of the main Landing Aid lights and tools is available in the brochure by AGI, which produces them and is working right now on QE in Portsmouth. 

Meanwhile, on September 8, the second ship in class will be named with a ceremony in Rosyth which will see the Royal Lancers, affiliated to the ship, proving a spear Guard.


The USS America as commissioned (top) and following F-35B modifications applied in 2015 (bottom). The shielding of the AN/SPN-41 is evident. Phalanx has moved, with RAM replacing it. This might indicate that RAM is less vulnerable to hot downwash. 

Ship boats for both carriers are in delivery or on order. Four purpose-built boats have been ordered for Queen Elizabeth, and two (named Swordfish and Buccaneer) have already been delivered.

Queen Elizabeth's boat




Ship boats and RHIBs are carried in fully enclosed bays in the sponsons


Prince of Wales, instead, will receive three boats from the recent contract for “up to 38” workboats of the SEA class. The workboat contracts includes 33 firm orders and 5 options. Included in the firm order are three boats for Prince of Wales, while the options include 3 more boats of the same kind.
For general interest, the SEA class will include 10 workboats (for delivery in Fiscal Year 2018 (5), 2019 (3) and 2020 (2)), 3 passenger transfer boats plus 3 options, 7 Dive Support Boats (3 in 2019, 3 in 2020), 6 officer training boats plus 2 options, for delivery in 2020 and 2021; 3 survey motor boats (Medium) and 3 Survey motor boats (Small).


SEA class workboats are modular and come in 11, 13, 15 and 18 meters lenght. 

SafeHaven Marine will deliver the largest boat, a 18-meter WILDCAT60 derivative which will be delivered in May 2018 and will replace the current HMS Gleaner, which is soon to leave service after carrying out key survey work to chart the course out of Rosyth and into Portsmouth for the carriers.

At 18 meters, the replacement will be a big bigger than the current HMS Gleaner 



Capability build up

Things will get more interesting next year. HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to put to sea between January and March 2018 for Rotary Wing trials and first embarkation of a Special Purpose Task Group of Royal Marines. The aim is to land Merlin HC4, Apache, Chinook and Wildcat on the ship and validate the employment of a rotary wing air group and of an embarked component of Marines up to Company-group size.

By August 2018, HMS Queen Elizabeth should achieve IOC as LPH. It is the Royal Navy’s intention to always embark a Royal Marines SPTG of anything between 50 and 300 marines supported by at least a “unit of action” of up to 4 Merlin HC4 from 845 NAS. The SPTG provides the carrier with a response force that can quickly move ashore for raids, evacuations of british personnel and, crucially, for recovery of downed pilots and recovery or destruction of valuable equipment lost in enemy territory. The F-35 is highly valuable technology and cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands other than in very small pieces. Development of a Joint Personnel Recovery Capability within 3 Commando Brigade is well underway, and the RAF Regiment is working on JPR training of its own.

This period of early LPH trials and experimentation will be followed by the already mentioned period in port for technology insertion, which is meant to prepare the ship for First of Class Flying Trials. Queen Elizabeth will set sail for the US East Coast in the autumn. HMS Montrose is currently expected to escort her there.

The Royal Navy anticipates to send QE loaded with a Royal Marines force including a composite rotary wing air component. This will move inland for exercises alongside the US Marine Corps, while QE will embark 2 instrumented F-35Bs and 4 pilots for 8 weeks of tests and evaluation. Highlight of the trials will be the experimentation of the Short Rolling Vertical Landing technique, which is of routine use ashore but that, for the shipboard side, represents an innovation and something that has so far been trialed only in simulation.
In March 2018, 617 Squadron will formally stand up in Beaufort, in the US, in time to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters.
In June 2018 the Sqn will begin its extraction from Beaufort, with a first group of 4 aircraft flying to Marham, followed by other waves by August. By December, 617 Sqn should achieve Land IOC with 9 aircraft in Marham.
5 more aircraft and around 50 personnel will remain in Beaufort until the summer of 2019 to repay the USMC of the collaboration and literally provide back training flying hours. They’ll then move to RAF Marham in time for the stand-up of 207 Sqn, the OCU for the Lightning fleet, in July 2019.
3 Instrumented aircraft (BK-1, BK-2 and BK-4) will remain in Edwards AFB with 17(R) Sqn for test, development and evaluation purpose.

By the summer of 2019, work should be complete on the new Integrated Training Centre being built in Marham. It will have 4 networked full mission simulators, and the hope is to hook them up as soon as possible with Typhoon simulators in Coningsby and Lossiemouth as well as with USAF F-35A simulators at Lakenheath and elsewhere, to enable large-scale collaborative operations within the training simulation.
By then, Marham will also have 3 vertical landing pads; a hangar for deep maintenance, a facility for maintenance and monitoring of the health of the stealth coating and a new National Operating Centre hosting the UK ALIS infrastructure as well as the Lightning Force HQ, offices and other key supports. Drive-through sun shelters will be installed in the area destined to 617 and 207 Sqns operations, and existing Hardened Aircraft Shelters upgraded for F-35 compatibility.
The runways (one of 9500 and one of 6500 feet) will be resurfaced and the shorter one will have an area specifically configured as STOVL strip.

The Hardened Aircraft Shelters for 617 Sqn, to the left, and the 207 Sqn OCU area, including the Integrated Training Centre, to the right

The OCU facilities are entirely new builds, developed on brown land 

The ITC 

Maintenance facility, being built in place of the old No3 hangar. Another engineering facility replaces the old No1 as well. 

From the journal of RAF Marham, the progress in the build 


Project ANVIL is a massive infrastructure improvement


In the summer / autumn of 2019, the intention is to embark 617 Sqn and sail in UK waters for squadron-level trials and certifications.
In 2020 this will be followed by a larger exercise combining 617 Sqn with the other elements of the air wing (Merlin from 820 NAS; CROWSNEST from 849 NAS and so along) and of the surface task group, in order to reach IOC Carrier.




Finally, in 2021, Queen Elizabeth and her task group are expected to set sail for the first major operational deployment away from home.

The UK has received 11 F-35B so far, and by the end of the year they will be 14. 3 more aircraft will be delivered next year (BK-15, 16, 17), while BK-18 will follow in 2019, alone, as the MOD ordered a single aircraft within LRIP 11.
3 will follow within LRIP 13, for delivery in 2020. 6 more in 2021, 8 in 2022 and 7 in 2023. By the end of 2023 the UK will have 42 F-35B, of which 24 will be in frontline units as 809 NAS stands-up.
6 more aircraft will follow in 2024, so that by January 2025 the UK will have taken delivery of 48 F-35B.
The number of aircraft effectively embarked will depend on the Routine Operating Model that will be written down.

The profile of orders beyond Lot 16 (deliveries in 2024) is not yet known. The latest Major Projects Report released by the MOD has the F-35 programme end date as 31 March 2035. To receive all of the promised total of 138 aircraft by then, the MOD should place the last order in 2033, as two years pass between order and delivery.
Beginning in 2023 and ending in 2033, the MOD would have to order 8 - 9 aircraft per year. Not a particularly ambitious target, yet a non insignificant one for a ministry in perennial budget crisis.
The greatest threat for the future of embarked fixed wing aviation is the Split Buy idea that continues to float around as very real threat. More on the split buy danger here.
Within the Joint Force, the manpower split is currently expected to hover at around 58 to 42% in favor of the RAF, but with the Squadron’s commanders alternating by Service.
There is every intention to have a permanent exchange programme in place with the USMC, as used to happen with the Harrier, with one UK instructor in Beaufort within the USMC OCU, and a USMC instructor in the UK within 207(R) Sqn.

For expeditionary operations, the UK has the same kind of ambitions as the USMC. AM-2 matting stocks are expected to be rebuilt, and Royal Engineers should already be involved in USMC expeditionary airfield training at 29 Palms as this is being written. Next year, a landing strip and pad should appear in Kinloss, home of the Air Support engineers.

Training of deck handlers is carried out at the School of Flight Deck Operations at Culdrose, on the “HMS Siskin”, the dummy carrier deck modified for the new QEC age. 4 training mock-ups of the F-35B have been procured, and thanks to water tanks inside their structure they can replicate the various weights of different load-outs. They are also equipped with cockpits suitable for training of emergency extraction of injured pilots. Old Sea Harriers, which do not fly but which have working engines, are used to prepare personnel to the noise and hazards typical of flight deck operations. The School includes a special simulator, an enclosed space where personnel can train safely for fire emergencies.


4 Ground Training Aids, Sea Harriers and real helicopters are used for deck training

Since late 2015 the School also includes a new Flight Deck Training Simulator which allows flight deck crews to simulate every aspect of deck operations. Fire fighting & engineering emergencies, aircraft refuelling, marshalling and multi-spot landings can be simulated as well as changing sea states and day and night conditions.

In terms of capability of the F-35B, the UK is looking ahead to Block IV software and hardware updates, for integration in four successive incremenets (4.1 to 4.4) between 2021 and 2025/26. The full list of upgrades and additions is still being finalized by the Pentagon, but for the UK Block IV is defined by integration of the latest mark of ASRAAM (New Build, or Block 6 if you prefer); of the bunker-buster warhead variant for Paveway IV; of Meteor and SPEAR 3.
Block IV should give the F-35 full video downlink capability as well as swap the current EOTS targeting / FLIR assembly with the Advanced EOTS which offer a greater resolution, a new TV camera, an IR pointer and a lead-in laser for improved moving target engagement capability with laser-guided bombs.
A new processor (Technology Refresh 3, TR3, as opposed to current in-production aircraft which use the TR2, which supplanted the earlier TR1) a new cockpit display by Elbit are expected in Block 4.2.
Significant improvements to the engine, which would make it more powerful and reduce consumption of fuel by a good 5%, have been proposed but it is not yet known if there will be room to actually take such mods aboard in the Block IV programme, which is already quite extensive especially due to the long list of weapons to be added.

The IOC will be attained with Block 3F instead, which will begin to roll out in the coming months, and which brings integration of 2 ASRAAM for external carriage as well as up to 6 Paveway IV (2 internal, 4 external), plus of course 2 internal AMRAAM (or 4 if no bombs are carried internally).
The UK chose to wait out on the gun pods and only bring them aboard with Block IV, even though they will be cleared with 3F.

Phase 2 Ski Jump trials are underway at Patuxent River. Here a F-35B launches with a heavy ASRAAM and Paveway IV external load for the first time. Asymmetric loads and high wind launches are also being validated. 

On the amphibious side of things, the Royal Navy is working to embody some unspecified modifications and enhancements on Prince of Wales with the aim of getting it to a “LPH FOC” status in 2023.
This is a larger scale capability than the SPTG embarked on QE. Prince of Wales will embark two company groups of Royal Marines with stores and some vehicles / light guns as well as a large composite wing of helicopters for their insertion and support. It will be the de-facto replacement of HMS Ocean (which bows out early next year) and will be at the heart of the amphibious task group. With Prince of Wales, 1 LPD and at least 2 of the Bay-class LSDs the Navy intends to deliver the same 1800-strong Lead Commando Battlegroup envisaged today, with a greater rotary wing support.
The Lead Commando Battlegroup is meant to insert simultaneously a Company group by air assault and a mechanized company group mounted on Viking vehicles by landing craft from the LPD and LSDs.




The other companies and supporting elements would follow in subsequent waves.
Prince of Wales will be able to simultaneously launch 10 to 14 helicopters per wave thanks to her vast deck.
The modifications introduced on Prince of Wales should then be applied to Queen Elizabeth during her first refit around 2026.

The Navy intends to hold the aircraft carrier at Very High Readiness (5 days notice to move) with the “LPH” at High Readiness (20 to 30 days notice to move). For major deployments / operations, the two carriers would deploy together.
There will be, however, periods in which only one ship is available as the other enters refit. During those periods it will be more frequent to see mixed air wings including a smaller number of F-35Bs and a greater number of Marines and helicopters.


In conclusion 

The current plan is good. There is a lot of work to do, but the project looks solid and it is particularly reassuring to see the planned development of the amphibious capability, since the loss of HMS Ocean would otherwise have catastrophic consequences for the UK’s capabilities in this area. Now we have to hope that no new budget cuts come to knock pieces off this plan, and that the split buy idea is killed off, at least until after 4 squadrons of F-35B have been formed. 4 squadrons plus OCU are the current long-term plan and already it represents arguably a bare minimum target for a capable, sustainable fleet which must be able to generate a substantial deployable force. A split buy would greatly harm the entire project and dramatically reduce the UK’s ability to actually put jets on the deck.

An important element coming up is the MARS Solid Support Ship which must replace the old Fort Austin, Fort Rosalie and Fort Victoria around the middle of the 2020s. 
Next month might provide some clues about this programme as well as Type 31 since the Shipbuilding strategy should (finally!) be released. The MOD plans to brief industry about Type 31 at DSEI, on September 7. 
Contract award for MARS Solid Support is expected in 2020. These large ships, fitted with Heavy Replenishment At Sea rigs, will carry the stores, ammunition and spare parts needed to keep the carrier group going. Their role in support of amphibious operations will also be important, so details of their design and of the acquisition schedule are eagerly awaited. 





20 comments:

  1. There is much sense in all this - a couple of points of clarification, when you say aircraft carrier at 5 days notice and LPH at 30 days presumably when QE has the same upgrade as PoW, the two ships will alternate as 'the carrier'? Secondly, are there also expected to be shades or grey between CS and LM, so you may get PoW as an LPH type role but say with a squadron of F35 for AD / strike instead of some of the helos - i.e. fully flexible according to needs, Thanks

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    1. Prince of Wales will initially be the only one fully capable of playing the LPH role, but she will also serve as carrier when QE is not available. Once the two ships receive the same set of mods, they can alternate in all roles.

      And yes, there is the option to have a mix of carrier and LPH by embarking up to a squadron of F-35B alongside Marines and helicopters, like on US LHAs.

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  2. A very comprehensive summary of where things stand and where they are heading.

    There's a couple of other points i remember being mentioned frequently in the earlier days of CVF which i haven't seen clarified since....

    Will both vessels still be fitted with small amounts of protective armour plating? I'm guessing the exact specifications are classified but has armour still been worked into the build?

    I remember hearing as well that once in service the idea was for them to have more but shorter refits. The argument was it's better to experience 6 month small-scale refits every 2-3 years instead of taking them out of action for 12-18 months every 5+ years. Is this also still the plan?

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    1. Some armour is almost certainly part of the design.

      As for the refit schedule, i'm not sure. The 2026 point is described as a "Capability Insertion Point". Whether that equates to a full refit or is something a bit less invasive due to more frequent, smaller wors, i don't know.

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  3. I suppose the decision to have both carriers at 5-30 days notice is why Commander Carrier Strike Group (COMCSG) was revived?

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    1. I think it would have stood up even with just one carrier, sincerely.

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  4. From MikeW:

    Hi Gaby

    You say, in what is a fine article, that, on the amphibious side of things, '“Prince of Wales” will be “the de-facto replacement of HMS Ocean (which bows out early next year) and will be at the heart of the amphibious task group. With Prince of Wales, 1 LPD and at least 2 of the Bay-class LSDs the Navy intends to deliver the same 1800-strong Lead Commando Battlegroup envisaged today, with a greater rotary wing support.'

    I acccpt the fact that there might very well be greater rotary wing support for any RM Commando group but shall we not be losing a certain amount of capability with the demise of “HMS Ocean”? I think I am right in saying that Ocean” carries Four Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVPs) permanently embarked and manned by 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (I think they are lowered by derricks on the sponsons). If that facility is not replaced by a similar arrangement on either the LPDs or the “Bay”class LSDs, then we shall be losing some “over-the beach” capability, shall we not?

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    1. That will almost certainly be lost. However, extra LCVPs could be carried on the Bays to partly make up for that, and there is always the question mark about what kind of capability the MARS Solid Support Ship might bring into the group.

      One interesting question, for now without answer, is whether the new work-boats chosen for Prince of Wales could have any utility as an infantry landing craft. It does not have a bow ramp, but might still be able to come close to the beach.

      Overall, though, the loss of 4 LCVPs is not, in itself, the problem. I don't think the Navy would ever be comfortable with pushing the carrier close enough to shore to launch her own LCVPs.

      HMS Ocean's demise will remove some capability, for sure. She also, after all, carries a number of vehicles in her (small) vehicle deck and with the stern ramp and pontoon she is able to transfer them onto LCUs from the LPDs if the weather is acceptable. This will be lost.

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    2. From MikeW:

      Hi Gaby

      Thanks for the reply, which I found very useful indeed. I had completely forgotten about the important point that the Navy would have severe reservations about pushing the carrier close to shore in order to launch her LCVPs. I had also forgotten about the capability that he MARS Solid Support Ship might bring into the amphibious group. However, I did have a similar thought to you (honest!) about how the new workboats might be able to assist an amphibious landing. It was, though, more along the lines of their possibly being able to help with supply and re-supply of cargo in what might be termed a “second wave” after an initial assault has gone in.

      The second question I wanted to ask was whether you could explain in a little more detail exactly what your objection is to the RAF going for what you term “a split buy” of F-35s. Rather naively perhaps, and with my limited knowledge of the aircraft side of things, I had imagined that a small purchase of F35As would be beneficial, in that that version appears to be cheaper and in some respects, more able (faster etc.). You say that you hope that “the split buy idea is killed off, at least until after 4 squadrons of F-35B have been formed” and that “A split buy would greatly harm the entire project and dramatically reduce the UK’s ability to actually put jets on the deck.”

      Is it a question of numbers and perhaps the idea that the RAF might cut back severely on the number of the “B” version” it might buy, leaving the pressure on the Royal Navy to purchase the necessary numbers of the “B” in order to make up a full complement? Thanks for any help you can give.

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    3. Regarding the split buy, i will point you back to the article i wrote exactly about that idea: http://ukarmedforcescommentary.blogspot.it/2017/06/f-35-split-buy-idea-is-nonsense.html

      In short, anyway:

      - There is no "Royal Navy budget" for the F-35B. There is only one F-35 procurement budget and only one pool of manpower available. Any F-35A purchase will take away F-35B money and manpower... unless, for the latter, it is Typhoon that goes. See the Squadrons count in the article. The point is that there does not seem to be manpower to support more than 9 / 10 squadrons at a stretch, including the manpower the Royal Navy will provide.
      Of those, between 5 and 8 will be Typhoon squadrons. I think the Tranche 1 squadrons will have to go already in order to accommodate the 3rd and 4th Squadrons on F-35, so i can't see how it could ever work. Unless the RAF is currently grossly overmanned and can stand up more squadrons than it has and plans, i can't see how it can ever work.

      Purchasing "small numbers" of a combat jet makes little sense, because only relatively small percentages of a jet fleet tend to be deployable as it is. The smaller the fleet is, the fewer deployable elements it can generate and even fewer the ones it can sustain.
      Remember when they said that the Harrier fleet, down to 2 squadrons, could not sustain the enduring deployment of 8 jets to Afghanistan anymore?
      Remember when Tornado fleet was about to shrink to 2 squadrons but the third was eventually kept because otherwise sustaining ops against ISIS would be impossible?

      A fleet of 2 squadrons would face the exact same problem. It is not much of an actual tool, because it deploys only a small package of aircraft and personnel and struggles to sustain even that.

      7 Typhoon squadrons give you 2 squadrons for permanent QRA duties at home and 5 more to draw for for ops at home and abroad.
      2 squadrons give you... not much.

      And a fleet that gives you not much, flanked by another small fleet giving you little (the hypotethical 2 squadrons of F-35A) summed together make a bad investment.

      I also fear that, once the fleets are split, the F-35B will end up being the poor cousin, like the Harrier was to Tornado. When both fleets end up needing money for much needed updates, one of the two fleets gets shafted.

      I really, really believe it's better not to go there.

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  5. One comment and a question. Firstly, I don't think QE will be fully fitted for rolling vertiacl alnding until her first refit. PoW will have it from build.
    The question, you don't even mention standing up 809NAS. Is it in danger of dropping off the plot?

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    1. I did mention 809 NAS, actually:

      By the end of 2023 the UK will have 42 F-35B, of which 24 will be in frontline units as 809 NAS stands-up.


      As for HMS Queen Elizabeth, it's on her that the SRVL equipment and technique will be validated to start with, so she's bound to get it before PoW unless new kit needs to be devised / added and it ends up fitted to PoW before being retrofitted to QE. But it is unlikely.

      What PoW will have is a wider portion of the deck covered with thermal metal spray. But that has more to do with vertical landing than SRVL, which puts much less of a strain on the deck to begin with.

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    2. Aplogies, missed it about 809NAS,
      I visited QE in June last year, and was told she won't have the Bedford sight immediately (but as you show, has the sponson for it), so won't have a full rolling vertical landing. Might well have changed since, we were shown the deck lights for the technique.

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    3. I can't imagine them not fitting it in during the Capability Insertion period next year right before going to trial SRVL (among other things) in the US with embarked F-35. I don't think they would ever contemplate doing the trials without installing the missing bits first.

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    4. Perhaps when they said refit, they meant this period in Portsmouth, so she will be getting it now and PoW will leave Rosyth already fitted. That would fit with what I was told, and your blog (which I have never been able to fault!!)

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    5. There was a tweet days ago from AGI about going aboard QE during the period in Portsmouth to "continue installation of the visual landing aids", so i'm pretty sure that all essentials will be up by the time she sails for the US in autumn 2018. We'll see.

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    6. The MoD has said the Bedford light system would not be fitted to QE in time. However, that does not preclude SVRL from being trialled.

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    7. Small point but Artisn has been rotating in many of the recent QE videos.

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  6. I personally think a third (possibly RFA) flat-top is needed. First to allow for additional troops to be carried without tying up a valuable CVF, and also for Humanitarian / ASW operations.

    Also, unless the UK is going to invest into some serious ship to shore connectors (unlikely), it needs to find a way to support the LPDs getting closer to shore given the limited escorts planned.

    My personal favourite is to merge the T31 and MHC budgets to buy in volume a multi-role minor warship that could provide protection, other services (e.g. MCM) and deliver amphibious forces themselves. For me, the best candidate is the Venator 90 with CAMM and a medium gun.

    https://youtu.be/Bf386EByAjc

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  7. Very informative report.
    Great Writing Gab...

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