| Submit your comments on this article |
| Britain |
| Britain OKs plan to build 2 carriers |
| 2008-05-22 |
| LONDON — The British government has officially given the go-ahead to a 3.9 billion pound ($7.6 billion) program to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. The first of the warships is planned to be in service in 2014. Confirmation for the program to proceed will trigger the creation of a joint venture pulling together the surface warship yards of BAE Systems and the VT Group. The two companies agreed to merge the two BAE yards on the Clyde in Scotland with VT’s Portsmouth facility in southern England in mid-2007, but completion of the deal was contingent on the government here confirming that the CVF carrier program would enter the production phase. The joint venture will be Britain’s only major surface warship builder. The future of the two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers had been in doubt for months as the Ministry of Defence sought to balance its books in the face of a potentially significant budget overspend. VT CEO Paul Lester signaled that the program was about to be approved when he told reporters last week at the company’s annual results briefing that the government had informed them approval was imminent. Lester said at the time it would take between four and five weeks to complete the merger deal once the government had informed them it was proceeding with the program. The two carriers, the largest warships ever built in the United Kingdom, will be constructed in modules and assembled at the Babcock International warship support yard at Rosyth in Scotland. The first warship will be named HMS Queen Elizabeth, and the second, planned to be in service in 2016, will be called HMS Prince of Wales. The CVF program is being undertaken by an alliance of British companies comprising BAE, Babcock, Thales, VT and the MoD. The contract will be signed with the merged BAE/VT entity and a subcontract issued to the alliance. The decision is expected to secure 10,000 jobs in the British maritime industry. In a statement issued May 20, the MoD said it had “provided written assurances to industry that we are ready to sign contracts as soon as the new shipbuilding joint venture that will be part of the alliance of companies constructing the vessels has been formed.” |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #7 What are they going to carry, Pakistani Air Force jets? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-05-22 20:23 |
| #6 VARIOUS MIL FORUMS/NET > AFAIK, despite the go-ahead, the Brits are still considering sharing the CVF's utility wid the other Euros, espec FRANCE = FRENCH NAVAL AVIATION. Proposed ventures include BRIT-FRENCH, ANDOR ALL-EURO COMBINED AIR WINGS + SHIP CREWS + ROTATING CAPTAINCY, espec Carrier Air??? Work/Debate-in-Progress. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-22 20:10 |
| #5 Pappy, my understanding is that these are fleet class carriers, not French/Italian style escort/light class carriers. I recall that they're to fly the naval version of the JSF. They still need escorts. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-05-22 19:22 |
| #4 What keeps getting lost here is that in order to make the generally unproductive expenditure on a decent military force, you have to have a productive economy rich enough to afford it. What we're seeing in both the US and Europe is the shift of economic power to Asia and the consequent diminishing of the ability to pay for world-class militaries. Add to that the Euros' general disinclination to pay their way and to ride on America's defensive coattails and you've got a real problem coming up with funding. The biggest problem with that situation is that with the speed of modern war, you've pretty much got to fight with what you've got; there isn't a lot of time to ramp up production. If the cupboard is damned near bare when the balloon goes up, the outcome is almost predetermined. |
| Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 2008-05-22 18:34 |
| #3 Great - two carriers. No escorts or auxiliaries. Built to the same or similar design as the French; the idea being the carriers could be transferred for use by either nation. EUS Multiculturalism and EUS Less, indeed. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-05-22 16:59 |
| #2 I wonder how they plan to build these ships without the interference of Brussels, who would want them designed the Airbus way, to similar result. As EU ships, they would be rechristened the EUS Multiculturalism, and the EUS Less. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-05-22 16:07 |
| #1 Good luck with that and I really do hope they are successful. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-05-22 15:28 |