UK Defence Forum

SVRL commentary ..

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ls-454087/

No news on whether she has a few Daves on board for the return trip? 7 was mentioned by her previous Capt.

No, the previous captain (Kyd) stated that seven UK F-35's would be taken across to the US for Westlant 19 in 2019

Then in 2020, U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 will be embarked on QE as she and an escort fleet will sail in Scottish waters to gain a group sail certification.

(Source: https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-ne ... -aviation/ )

As far as I know, QE only has the three Mk2 (820 NAS) and three Mk4 (845 NAS) Merlins she left the UK with her now, and is not ferrying any new additions to the RAF/FAA F-35B squadrons.

Ron5 wrote:SVRL commentary ..

BAE Systems F-35 STOVL test pilot Peter Wilson on 13 October became the first ITF pilot to recover to Queen Elizabeth using the SRVL manoeuvre. He had previously flown over 2,000 simulated recoveries using a full-motion simulator at the company's ship/air integration facility in Warton, Lancashire.
"In my view, this is the way to land that airplane on this carrier, because it gives you so much capability," he says. "At this point, if you want me to go and land an F-35B on Queen Elizabeth, I’m going to do an SRVL."

My personal opinion, SRVL will become the landing method of choice, with VL being the option when conditions are outside acceptable parameters.

Has the SRVL been performed on U.S.N ships by the F35B,s

Doubt it, they don't even like ski jumps, something we've been using since the late 1970s.

seaspear wrote:Has the SRVL been performed on U.S.N ships by the F35B,s

Don't think they have the space on LHD's, but if the Marines ever visit their F-35C colleague's on a CV it could be an option.

BTW, does anyone else think it's funny that we're taking the most expensive vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and bigging up the fact that we're downgrading it to a STOL plane

Not really, being a STOVL platform means it can operate as a STOL one and gain the benefits if required. In this case they are pretty major a unlike in the past, dumping your weapons load to be able too land no longer means a few "Iron" bombs but a number of "Smart" munitions that cost an awful lot to replace, not to mention unused fuel and so on.

Little J wrote:vertical takeoff

Fully fuelled and armed for combat, the F-35B is not a vertical takeoff plane as its too heavy. And to be fair to the F-35B, the Harrier couldn't do fully loaded vertical takeoffs either, which is why the Invincible class carriers had runways and ski jump ramps for additional lift.

Here's a video of the first ever F-35B vertical takeoff in BF-01 on 10th May 2013.

SKB wrote:Doubt it, they don't even like ski jumps, something we've been using since the late 1970s.

Actually since 1943 - the crew of HMS Furious built wooden "ski jumps" (then known by the archaic name of "ramps" ) to allow their Fairey Barracudas get off the deck while loaded with 1600 lb. bombs)

Caribbean wrote:

SKB wrote:Doubt it, they don't even like ski jumps, something we've been using since the late 1970s.

Actually since 1943 - the crew of HMS Furious built wooden "ski jumps" (then known by the archaic name of "ramps" ) to allow their Fairey Barracudas get off the deck while loaded with 1600 lb. bombs)

When the loadout exceeded the std torpedo's weight, it was actually a depth charge (a bomb of a special kind) that was being carried:
"Up to 1,500 lb of conventional drop stores OR 1,800 lb of depth charges OR 1 x 1,620 lb torpedo."

downsizer wrote:With concurrent activity you can knock out way more than 6 PW4 Per hour.

I guess a lot, like everything, hinges on manpower levels. Which trade builds them in the Navy?

SKB wrote:

(Forces TV / On The Roger) 7 Dec 2017

Wish they'd get a move on and fit her 'guns' . Until that moment a proper warship she not be and a few gympy's and a couple of mini guns don't count IMHO!

It's happening when she is back home, we were told. Fittings decoys and guns will finally make her look a lot more "complete".

I was led to believe that some new radios will be fitted as well. Not sure if this is a update to existing units or additional ones.

Quite some rotation they've had:
"More than 1,400 sailors, flight crew and Royal Marines have been working on board the carrier during her deployment."
- many of those assigned for PoW got their turn?

How compatible is the RN communications with that of the USN and USMC? I don't think its a issue but it there are regular visits by USMC F-35Bs and so on this needs to be a non-issue.

seaspear wrote:Has the SRVL been performed on U.S.N ships by the F35B,s

Absolutely not. The UK has done all the running on SRVL. USMC is watching with interest and may look into it in the future. They're basically watching the UK prove it before adopting it. If it works as advertised I can't see them not adopting it to be honest.

Little J wrote:Don't think they have the space on LHD's, but if the Marines ever visit their F-35C colleague's on a CV it could be an option.

The America Class and Wasp Class do have the length of deck required for a full SRVL at the same weights as the UK but what might make it difficult is the lack of flight deck width, especially with parked aircraft being a concern. But then again the USN do put aircraft on decks at 120 knots mere yards from parked aircraft with heavy metal cables under tension so their risk appetite might be sufficient..

I just noticed that QE will be berthing bows south at Princess Royal Jetty tomorrow.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/qhm/portsm ... 10/12/2018

topman wrote:I guess a lot, like everything, hinges on manpower levels. Which trade builds them in the Navy?

I interpreted the 6 PW4 an hour as 6 PW4 per weapons prep cell, of which there are quite a few. The warheads appear to be delivered by the HMWHS in blocks of 6 so it would make sense.

QE is being followed by RFA Tidespring

QE's AIS is also on. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/ho ... 37/zoom:12

Westlant 18 was 3 months and 22 days long (18 August 2018 - 10 December 2018), or a total of 114 days.

RFA Tidespring has gone to Stokes Bay.