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DeliciousCarrier building begins in Portsmouth
Thursday, February 25, 2010Portsmouth has become the fifth UK shipyard to start work on the construction of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth started the laser steel cutter, signalling the beginning of work at the base.
"Here in Portsmouth work is just beginning but across the country in Devon, Newcastle, Glasgow and Rosyth work is already under way," said Ainsworth.
"In all, six shipyards across the UK will be involved in the manufacture of the ships' hulls, supporting up to 8,000 jobs in the construction and up to another 3,000 throughout the supply chain. The progress already being made to deliver these assets - which will be a cornerstone of future defence policy - is a testament to the skill and professionalism of UK industry."
The segment initiated by Ainsworth was the first of three blocks that BAE Systems Surface Ships will build in Portsmouth. At 70m long and 40m wide, it will use 6,000 tonnes of steel and eventually hold machinery and supplies as well as switchboards and some accommodation.
BAE Systems are set to receive £800M for their work at Portsmouth. The company employs over 3,000 people in Portsmouth, including around 200 apprentices.
Managing Director of BAE Systems Surface Ships Alan Johnston said: "This is a very proud day for our workforce here in Portsmouth and comes on the back of our work on the Clyde, where another large part of the carrier's hull is already taking shape.
"The design and build of ships of this magnitude is a massive engineering feat and a real testament to skills harnessed in our industry across the UK. We will continue to work closely with our partners in the Aircraft Carrier Alliance and to invest in the skills of our employees and our facilities not only to deliver the Royal Navy's future flagships, but also to secure the long-term future of the UK's warship building industry."
Some of the sections of the first ship's flight deck, called sponsons, have already been delivered to Rosyth, where the ships will be assembled. In Spring, the first of the blocks of hull are also due to leave for the Scottish shipyard from Appledore in Devon. Many of the key components for the ships such as the diesel generators and the turbines have also already been manufactured.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Thanks to Argentina maybe the Tories will now support this project and put an end to this ridiculous inter-service rivalry over their cost.
How can it make sense that the nominally anti-military labour party support it and the Conservatives are sitting on the fence, still. They are vital if we are to continue to play any part in international affairs. The only real option for a truly flexible rapid reaction force that actually works and therefore gives us a say.
John Nott's lunatic ideas are obviously still alive and well in the Conservative party and not just amongst the quad bike riders either.
Alistair - Civil Servant
Hurrah! Now let them reach service with an angled deck with arrester wires, so they can operate the F-35 B&C. Also enough escorts for a carrier battlegroup.
John Hartley - Woking/England/UK
concidering we are having problems at the moment. could we not SPEED up production of the carriers . perhaps this would help
criss of herts - london
A flexible and agile army cannot do without these ships and the support they will provide. Pointless putting your infanteers and FRES vehicles on merchant ships to transit somewhere to conduct operations and not be able to defend them or support them when they get there.
Norman - UK
UK's NEW CARRIERS' OFFENSIVE & DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES & THEIR CAPACITIES TO PERFORM POTENTIAL FUTURE DUTIES OUGHT TO OVER-RIDE 'POLITICALLY DRIVEN' COST-SAVINGS OBJECTIVES IN THEIR DESIGN/BUILD PROCESS
These urgently needed warships have been so dumbed down and enormously diminished in terms of their capabilities and capacities- due to Labour-govt interference & dangerous cost-cutting in their design phase- that the carriers are going to end up impotent, grievously handicapped sitting ducks to even the most obsolescent-weapons equipped foes/adversaries...
The U.S. is projecting a build-cost of over 8 billion pounds for only one of its newest big deck aircraft carriers.
This carrier- the first of the Gerald Ford class- has been designed with a focus on lowering construction and operating costs compared to its predecessor Nimitz and improved Nimitz classes of big deck carriers..
Differing from the UK's 'economy approach to big deck aircraft carrier design', in designing the G Ford class the U.S. has ensured that efforts towards costs savings did not conflict with objectives to provide the new carriers' with needed offensive, defensive and ancillary capabilities...
For the UK Labour govt to be suggesting for over 5-years- and forcing the MoD to operate on an assumption that- it is going to be possible for the UK to get not one but two- functional, properly equipped big deck carriers for barely half what Americans are paying is ludicrous nonsense...
The carrier project is needed, but basic logic demands that it be halted until an impartial 'capabilities evaluation' of the expected resulting ships has been completed...
Evaluating basics such as the new carriers' ship self-defence, damage control, internal and external communications and propulsion/energy generation systems ought to be part of such an evaluation- and such an evaluation ought to factor in expected and potential carrier/RN duties and types of threats world-wide 2010-2045...
If a re-design of the carriers is determined to be needed and still feasible despite their partially built states, this ought to be attempted.
If not feasible, then the aircraft carrier design process ought to be rerun post haste- ideally working with the U.S.-, with the resulting warships' capabilities and potential future roles driving the design process rather than unrealistic and dangerously irresponsible costs parameters...
If the UK's new big deck aircraft carriers are allowed to remain politically-driven, make-work-project jokes- floating invitations for disaster with sumptuous crew facilities- this can only irreparably harm the UK's wider interests in the coming century...
Roderick V. Louis - Vancouver, BC, Canada,
A quote from the Telegraph "Those who would see the programme scrapped say a country with a £178bn hole in its finances, fighting a bloody war in landlocked Afghanistan, should not be spending further billions on equipment that has little relevance to the way wars are fought now". Don't they realise that the first british troops to land in landlocked Afghanistan came from a Royal Navy Carrier!! This higlights the adaptability of the platform!
H Nelson - Portsmouth