Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier
The Queen Elizabeth-class (formerly the CV Future or CVF project) is a class of two aircraft carriers being built for the Royal Navy. HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to enter service in 2016 and HMS Prince of Wales in 2018.
The contract for the vessels was announced on 25 July 2007 by then Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne, ending several years of delay over cost issues and British naval shipbuilding restructuring; the cost was initially estimated to be £3.9 billion. The contracts were signed one year later on 3 July 2008 after the creation of BVT Surface Fleet through the merger of BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions and VT Group's VT Shipbuilding which was a requirement of the UK Government.
The vessels will displace about 65,000 tonnes (64,000 long tons), be 280 metres (920 ft) long and have a tailored air group of up to forty aircraft. They will be the largest warships ever to be constructed for the Royal Navy.
The carriers will be completed as originally planned, in a Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration, deploying the Lockheed Martin F-35B. Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the British government had intended to purchase the F-35C carrier version of this aircraft, and adopted plans for Prince of Wales to be built to a Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) configuration. After the projected costs of the CATOBAR system rose to around twice the original estimate, the government announced that it would revert to the original design on 10 May 2012.
Under the previous plans, the Royal Navy would operate only one aircraft carrier, routinely equipped with 12 fast jets. However, the Chief of the Defence Staff has subsequently said that the STOVL design, "gives us the ability to operate two carriers if we choose." The final decision will be made at the next major strategic defence review, expected in 2015.
Read more about Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier: Carrier Air Group, Construction
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