Why the aircraft carrier is the Capital Ship

It is said that the first question a US President asks when a crisis erupts somewhere in the world is: “Where are the carriers?” 

UK admirals are known to prefer the saying “Carriers give governments options, not dead ends.”  

Now I will make a rapid, schematic and not at all exhaustive list of 10 good reasons why I totally agree with them and with their assesment of the real need for CVF in the future of the UK. 

1)      Aircraft carriers provide mobile, ready, sovereign air bases that can be rapidly brought to bear without reference to any other power. They will be essential in the future conflicts which, while unpredictable by nature, are most likely to happen away from Europe, primarily in the Middle East, Africa and, then, towards Asia. 

2)      They can poise (to use the British doctrinal term) in international waters giving politicians a range of options, with a capability for rapid action once they make their minds up.

3)      If nationals have to be evacuated, helicopters can be based aboard to carry out the mission.

4)      If opposition is expected, it can be overawed or, if necessary, neutralized by combat aircraft totally free of the limitations of doubtful host nation support.

5)      They can contribute to amphibious operations embarking Marines and helicopters. In the case of the UK, it is CVF or nothing at all, because HMS Ocean is bound to have NO direct replacement, while the LPDs and LSD(A)s can operate helicopters but don’t have hangars and proper aviation facilities.

6)      An aircraft carrier carries the planes, the crews, and accommodates them all.

7)      The aircraft carrier carries the weapons and the fuel and the spare parts to support its planes.

This is a relevant point in itself. In the Gulf War, bases given to Coalition aircrafts provided the fuel for the planes, but of course the spare parts, the weapons and all the rest had to be brought in by air or sea.

Even now, as UK planes deploy in Italy, fuel and – to a degree – spares might be fetched locally, since the Italian air force also has Tornado and Typhoon planes. They still have to be paid, but at least there is not to flow them in. Weapons instead have to be brought from UK to Italy, for both political reasons (Italy does not want to participate in bombing ops and, at least so far, it is not making available Paveway bombs to the Coalition either) and for technical reasons (UK Typhoons use ASRAAM missiles, while Italian ones use the Iris-T, Tornado GR4 employs Paveway IV, Litening III pods and Brimstone missiles, and Italy has none of this kit etc) adding to costs and logistic strain, making the already overtaxed cargo fleet of the RAF even more busy.

8)      An aircraft carrier is considerably safer than a land base. An aircraft carrier can move, make itself hard to find.

The F35C will have a combat radius of over 1300 km. An enemy bombed by embarked F35C will have to draw a huge circle on the sea, for an area of several thousands of square miles, where the carrier could be hiding. Not many countries in the world have the assets needed to track and detect the position of a ship moving on the sea, well past the horizon line, out of radar range.

Even when it is detected, an enemy wanting to attack the carrier will have to deal with the embarked AEW radar platforms and the fighter jets flying CAPs in defence of the ship. Even when these are overcome, the Carrier is still surrounded by Escorts, from Type 45 with Sea Viper missiles to, one day, Type 26 with CAMM. They will be effectively protected by the SAMs, even against ballistic threats via Sea Viper, and they will also be screened by the decoys that ships can deploy to lure missiles away.

This compare very favorably with a land base which, in the best case, could now get Rapier, and in future CAMM, for its self defence.  

9)      The Carrier preserves the capability of the UK to act independently and unilaterally in defence of its interests in the world, enables the country to take on small and medium sized expeditionary war ops, and ensures the UK a good seat at the planning table of any coalition operation.

10)   The C17 can carry to the operational theater 4 or maybe up to 5 Apache helicopters. But to transfer huge amounts of air assets to an area of operations, carriers are the best assets.  

 The UK knows this practice all too well, since the Royal Navy lost several carriers (included the borrowed USS Wasp) cruising the Mediterranean sea under ferocious air attacks in order to bring RAF airplanes to Malta under siege. A page of WWII heroism often forgotten.

A fitting example of how a carrier can be used as a Ferry aviation super-transport comes from this amazing image of the American LPH-4 USS Boxer leaving Mayport, bound for Vietnam, in 1965. 

She is crammed full of aircrafts and supplies for the American forces in the Asian country. On deck it is possible to see: 

- 56 CH-47 Chinook
- 36 UH-1 Iroquois
- 4 CH-54 Tahre
- 6 OV-1 Mohawk

Considering what was carried inside the vessel as well, the totals reach the astonishing figures of: 

205 helicopters

6 aircrafts

1200 soldiers

The first has come

The first FSTA plane lands in the UK

For the first time ever, the first plane of the 14 acquired under the FSTA (future strategic tanker aircraft) banner has come to the UK, landing at Boscombe Down, in Wiltshire, where the RAF will test the plane on the ground and in the air, ensuring that it can efficiently refuel Tornado, Sentry, Typhoon and Hercules aircrafts. EADS, which builds the airplanes, has already done its own tests, successfully refueling several F18 fighter jets during trials. The tests will continue well into 2012. 

With a 60m wingspan, and measuring nearly 60m from nose to tail, the new dual role air-to-air tanker and transport aircraft based around the Airbus A330 airframe will replace the long-serving VC-10 and Tristar fleet.  

The new aircraft will bring a considerable capability boost, each able to carry 291 troops over 6,000 miles, and to refuel other aircraft, in flight, from a 100,000 litre reservoir - greater than that of two large petrol tankers.

Seven of the UK's aircraft will be configured with under-wing hose and drogue refuelling pods, while the rest of the fleet will be three-point tankers also equipped with a centreline fuselage refuelling unit for use with large aircraft types. The first operational plane will arrive later this year. Within 2014, the air-refuelling capability of the new plane will be completed and by 2016 the whole fleet will have been handed over to the RAF.

One of the most striking capabilities of the new tanker is the ability of a single plane to support a packet of four Typhoon fighters (for example) in a 5000 km travel, while also carrying 15.000 kg of payload. The fuel is transferred at a rate of 5000 liters for minute – 83 per second! – e 60.000 kg of fuel can be carried on a travel of 1600 km by the air tanker.

And already there’s been official speculation of using it as an ISR platform as well: "FSTA is much more than a tanker," says chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton. "It has the ability to stay airborne and provide a [communications] relay facility for much longer than our current aircraft types."

Dalton believes the fleet's potential could go much further than these traditional roles, for example by taking on some intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance functions. "We need to do much more in the way we drive towards innovation," Dalton told the Royal Aeronautical Society's Aerospace 2011 conference in London on 13 April. "There are few good reasons why every airframe in an operational area should not be an ISR collector, or that FSTA could not be configured as a strategic ISR platform. Off-the-shelf modular capabilities to make this happen exist and can, indeed should, be integrated into future and current platforms, affordability permitting." 

France is still likely to buy hours of usage out of the RAF tanker fleet, since, to avoid cuts to its fighter jet fleets plan, the French air force has delayed an urgent, much-needed requirement for new air tankers. Negotiations have already been ongoing for some time, and despite French claims of the price being “too high”, there is no other way for the French air force to go around the problem. An agreement at some point is likely. 

Abandoned appears instead the idea of giving part of the planes to civilian users when not needed by the RAF: finding a contractor would not be easy, and, at least as long as the UK will have troops deployed abroad, be it Afghanistan or somewhere else, it is unlikely that there will ever be such a thing such as “not needed” airframes of this kind. The only real regret remains not buying the Cargo variant of the A330,

which probably was a compromise too much. The capability that we could have possibly had was formidable, and i agree with ThinkDefence on this point. And also, another limit is that, as it is, the FSTA planes will have no AAR kit themselves: a tanker will not be able to take on fuel while airborne.

The FSTA will still be a great step forwards though, so let's try and think positive. 

And we also finally know the type-name: the FSTA is now officially the Voyager.  

He did it!

Makeshift finish line in humor and improvisation mode. Toilet paper does fine!

Major Al Jarvis, who broke his back in a parachute accident two years ago, had been told by medics that he would never be able to run a marathon again. The married father of two almost severed his spinal cord back in 2008 when a parachute jump went horribly wrong. He also broke his hip and his leg and was left temporarily paralysed. Surgeons used metal rods and screws to repair the damage and Major Jarvis has endured countless hours of physiotherapy and treatment to get back to fitness to deploy to Afghanistan and complete the challenge.

Typhoon in Japan, ships in Brazil

Japan F-X competition

Japan announced on April 13 that the bidders being evaluated for the replacement next-generation fighter programme, dubbed F-X, have been whittled down to three candidates: Boeing, with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; Lockheed Martin, with its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; and BAE Systems, representing the Eurofighter consortium for the Typhoon fighter jet.
Many industry watchers say the F-35 and the Eurofighter are the two strongest contenders, according to Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, director of the Office of Defense Production Committee at Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), Japan's biggest industrial lobby. Militarily, it also appears unlikely that Japan could select the F/A-18E.

The Japanese MOD's "wish-list" for the F-X included stealthness and twin engines. Two propulsors were indicated as a vital requirement to ensure the highest possible safety to the new fighter, which will be deployed mainly on islands the sovranity of which is contested by China. For planes which will spend their life flying over the ocean, two engines are seen as a desirable safety factor.
It is well known that the F35 is single-engined, however, and that the Typhoon is Low Observable maily only from the front, so that it cannot be defined a stealth fighter.
Both main contenders do not really fit into the requirements of Japan, which in fact had compiled its wish-list aiming for the F22A Raptor jet fighter, which the US won't sold and even less allow the building of it abroad under license.


Japan's MoD is looking for a fighter to counter an increasingly capable Chinese Air Force.
Japanese industry - in particular Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which built a Japanese version of the F-16C/D, the Mitsubishi F-2, under license from Lockheed Martin, but which will soon complete work on it and be left without anything to build - is looking for licensed production. Keidanren supports this goal in order to sustain Japan's high-tech industrial base, Tsuzukibashi said.
"Actually, we don't care which one it is, as long as Japanese industry has the means to continue its industrial base with licensed production and technology," he said. "Actually, in that sense, the Eurofighter might be a little bit easier."

In terms of Industry support, the Typhoon appears to be well placed: Japanese industry was reportedly delighted by the offers of the Eurofighter consortium, which has promised to Japanese industry a seat into the Consortium if they buy the jet fighter. This would allow Japan to see its industry securing an important source of work and revenues for many years into the future. It appears more complex for LM to agree to allow a license production of the F35 in Japan: Lockheed has agreed to have a Forward Assemply and Check Out (FACO) plant in Italy which will assemble the planes destined to Italy and, potentially, to the Netherlands and other Europe-area countries interested in the F35 (UK will reportedly have its own assembled in the US, this leaves Turkey and, if they will choose the F35B to replace their Harriers, Spain), but this is not the same of a production on license as wanted by Japan, and it is unlikely that LM can accept to allow another FACO either, which might end up building the F35s (eventually) bought in future by Taiwan and South Korea, leaving the LM plants back in the US with little work to do. 
However, politically, the F35 is the one contender with the advantage: US-Japan links are well known, and the post WWII Japan has never bought a plane which wasn't US-designed, if not US-built.


The bids are to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-4EJ Kai Phantoms built by MHI, which are due to begin retiring in 2015, and will be for 40 planes, according to MoD documents. Japan also will need to replace its F-15Js in the next 10 years, which could increase the number of F-X fighters to 150, depending on what will happen with the national Stealth Fighter programme officially expected to see the prototype making its first flight in 2014.
Taisei Ugaki, a veteran military commentator here, said April 14 that there was strong pressure for MHI to maintain its assembly line, and that any move toward the Eurofighter would face "strong U.S. pressure" to buy American in order to maintain the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Despite the latest delay due to the earthquake and tsunami, bids will be due Aug. 31, and a contract awarded at the end of the year, according to Japan MoD documents.

For Eurofighter Typhoon a victory in Japan would be a historic triumph for the whole european industry.  

DefenseNews Article


Brazil warships deal

In September 2010, Brazil and the UK signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement on board of HMS Ocean in visit in the port of Rio. In the occasion, BAE also made its bid for the construction of warships for the Brazilian navy. The offer is designed to meet the objectives set out in Brazil’s National Strategy of Defence to enhance its indigenous industrial capability by enabling Brazil to develop an independent, sustainable naval shipbuilding and through-life maritime support capability.

The Brazilian Navy has a requirement for

- 5 Frigates
- 5 Ocean Patrol Vessels
- 1 logistic support vessel

BAE's offer verted on bringing Brazil into the Type 26 frigate programme. Becoming involved at this early stage would give Brazil the opportunity to influence design development. The resulting rationalised design, build and procurement process would also reduce the cost per ship and deliver substantial through-life savings to both Brazil and the UK in training, maintenance and support. The modular nature of the Tyèe 26 would allow Brazil to see its own national requirements and mandated-equipment fitted to the same baseline design.

The OPV would the '90 meters' BAE design, based on the River class in service in the Royal Navy and used for the 3 patrol ships built for Trinidad and Tobago. The ships would be of course fitted with Brazilian-mandated equipment. BAE already has a similar technology transfer agreement in place with Bangkok Dock in Thailand, which is building one vessel of this class for the Royal Thai Navy. The logistic vessel would have been a Fleet Tanker based on the Wave design.

Yesterday, however, DefenseNews reported that the UK government has apparently made a new, lower-cost interim offer. The article has vanished from the website, leaving, at the moment in which i write, a dead link behind itself. I'm not sure of what this implies. Possibly, the source was not reliable and the site preferred to avoid publishing not-confirmed rumors. But it was a very interesting read, and if true, it would be such a bargain for Brazil that i struggle to see how they could refuse.

The UK seems to have offered 3 of the retired/soon to be retired Type 22 frigates (what about the fourth, i wonder...?) and BAE would add the 3 offshore patrol vessels built for Trinidad and Tobago but never delivered after the order was cancelled in September last year. Rumors are that the UK would also add the recently decommissioned RFA Fort George to the offer. I don't know the price tag, but it is likely to be a true bargain. The rationale behind this proposal is probably to spur Brazil into an early order by seducing them with a pretty much unbeatable price, which could later on see a follow-on build phase for two new Type 26 frigates (or more, perhaps) and at least 2 more OPVs, killing-off the rivalry from FREMM and Italian and French shipyards.
For BAE, selling the 3 OPVs would help remedy to the losses caused by the messy Trinidad and Tobago disaster, while the MOD (after the recent agreement which saw the Treasury allowing the ministry of defence to keep and use money obtained by selling kit) would be able to pocket a good amount of precious money to reinvest to cover other needs.

Looks like an "Everyone Wins", all things considered. It will be interesting to follow both of these cases, and see what happens.  

A Typhoon strikes Lybia

RAF Typhoons finally got their share. After the Tornado GR4's good hunting trips, yesterday a RAF Typhoon has taken its own two Gaddafi tanks out with Paveway II bombs.

It is the first ever real strike mission carried out by a Typhoon worldwide. And it has been (unsurprisingly, but it is always nice when things go this way) a total success.

Note however the comparatively HUGE boom of a Paveway II bomb compared to the explosions we've seen in earlier videos of Brimstone strikes. Clearly, the Typhoon currently can engage only targets out in the open if collateral damage and civilian victims are to be avoided. The Typhoon was in fact accompanied by a Tornado GR4, which almost certainly flew in the by now standard "Libya config" with Paveway IV, 3 Brimstones and Litening III targeting pod. 

Read more from the Ministry of Defence official news.

Revenge of the Cold War relics. Again

It is not the first time that a "Cold War relic" proves to be actually an effective, relevant and needed weapon system, but this is on the headlines right now, and it is worth pointing it out, because the Brimstone missile has been more than once criticized as a "no longer needed" weapon. Designed to take over the hordes of URSS tanks in Central Europe (and delivered with massive delay, admittedly) this missile has been of course one of the victims of the "Relic" tagging. 

Brimstone Dual Mode (as shown, with combined radar/laser guidance) is proving its value in Afghanistan and now it is the great hero of Operation Ellamy.

Now it is proving itself as the right weapon at the right place as Tornado GR4s fly over Libya, reportedly destroying 23 tanks, armored vehicles and SAM missile launchers in just 3 days, counting from last Friday.   

Article and video from British Forces News

Unsurprising. Who reads Think Defence's blog knows that i had been foreseeing this long before the Libya campaign was started. 

And Sentinel R1, which also has its roots reaching into Cold War times, when the Army issued a requirement for a system capable to spy and track enemy movements on the ground, is proving its worth as well. 

It is so "unnecessary" that it started working in Afghanistan well before it entered officially into service, and now it is one of the most precious UK contributions to Libya as well. 

The Sentinel R1 represents a capability unique in Europe and, to a degree, it is a worldwide excellence, with only the US fleet of Joint Stars planes capable to do more.

And we could think of the Type 22 frigates as well, reportedly admired for the performance of HMS Cumberland, so much that there are calls to retain for some more time at least Cumberland and Cornwall. 

HMS Cumberland has been invaluable in the evacuation effort, and in the period spent off Libya's coast she's been impressing for her capability in command, controll and communications, leading to calls for giving her a longer life.

Can politicians truly be the only guys in the world who truly do not realize that certain affirmations are total bonkers? 

May be. But i suspect that they say idiocies knowing full well that they are saying them. 
They've got cuts to justify, after all. And they are short of real arguments. 


They must do with what they can...

As always, i want to exploit this occasion to express my wish for a safe and speedy return home of all members of the United Kingdom's and allied armed forces engaged in operations all around the world, and i want to wish good luck to the Commandos as they take over the command of operations in Afghanistan. 

To the 16 Air Assault brigade, well done lads! 

To the Commandos, give 'em hell, and come back safe!

And i also want to express my sadness and my deepest respect for the pain of the family of Lieutenant Commander Molyneux, 36, fatally shot on board HMS Astute. I know it won't help you, but my thoughts are with you at this tragic time.

Starting a new adventure

So, in the end i did it, and finally started a blog. My first blog, and a blog revolving around one of my very favorite subjects, the British Armed Forces. This blog will now become the place where i share my thoughts, ramblings, and the news on which i manage to get my greedy hands on. Because every novelty about the British Armed Forces, i must know.

I think a foreword about myself is a must, because i guess that, to most people, i'll seem like a weird case. And they are totally right at thinking it. I'm italian, i've never (yet) been in the UK, yet i consider Great Britain my second homeland. My passion for the british armed forces dates back to when i was 8 if not younger, which means it is now at least 13 years that i follow every event closely.
How did it begin? Well, with the Spitfire, of course. A legend not just in the UK, but pretty much everywhere. I bet there are even little chinese kids who have dreamed at least once to be a Spitfire pilot after hearing of the Battle of England.
My passion did continue with the Lancaster, and even more so with the "Wooden Wonder" the Mossie, with the Bren, the Sten, HMS Warspite and HMS Illustrious, and it was a love and interest that expanded steadily, from the 25 pdr gun to the Sherman Firefly, from HMS Vengeance to the Tornado GR4, and it went even backwards, past the Dreadnoughts and into the 800' with HMS Victory, Nelson, Wellington and the Redcoats, the Grasshoppers and the dragoon cavalry charging down the hill of Waterloo. 

It is a burning passion and a never-ending interest, from the Royal Navy to the Army to the RAF, from the SAS to the Royal Marines.
It is a passion often painful in these times of cuts and capabilities being gapped. But this does not make the passion any weaker.

And so here is my Blog, a place where to share my passion, and the knowledge i've built up in these years. I hope you'll find interesting data in here, and why not, interesting ideas and proposals to discuss about. This is my sincere Welcome to everyone, and I hope you will enjoy your visit here. Feel free to comment and discuss and contribute, it'll only make me happier.

And yes. This place is still kind of being built. So expect modifications and new things to pop up with time.

-Gabriele