UK to sell 1 carrier to India?
November 16th, 2009 | Aviation Carriers Foreign navies Royal Navy | Posted by Phil Ewing
One of the UK's two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers could become an Indian carrier if a proposed sale goes through // Royal Navy
The shipbuilding future of the Royal Navy has grown so bleak that new stories about what could happen to it have almost lost their ability to dismay. After the Ministry of Defence raised the possibility that it could delete the ability to handle F-35B Lightning II fighters from one of its future aircraft carriers, now it’s raising the possibility of selling one ship outright — to India.
The financial penalties of not building one of the two Queen Elizabeth-class flattops are more prohibitive than going through with it, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reports, so selling one to India could presumably defray the economic impact of going ahead with two ships. It isn’t clear yet how that deal would affect India’s tortured attempts to buy the ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Gorshkov, or whether the upshot of it all means that the Indians could have two new carriers — a used Russian one and British one fresh off the showroom floor — when the smoke cleared in the next decade.
Other implications: Would India buy one of the CVFs as-is, meaning designed to accommodate the short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B, even though it isn’t a member of the Joint Strike Fighter club? Or would it ask for changes so the ship could handle a different jet, such as the Su-33? That’d be interesting.
Meantime, the UK could be left with one new carrier, half its original order of fighter jets, and, in a major crisis, could need support from the U.S. Navy more than ever.
Port visit links
November 13th, 2009 | Ballistic missile defense Carriers Maritime operations Royal Navy Science and technology Ships Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors aboard the carrier Nimitz mustered to get ready to man the rails for a port visit in Japan, much as today's links are mustering to provide you with news and updates // MCSA Robert Winn / Navy
Restricted maneuvering doctrine settin’, ATM cash-withdrawin’, rail mannin’ links, eager to tie up, race down the brow and get into the bars town as quickly as possible:
- After a triumphant visit and commissioning in its namesake city, the amphibious transport dock New York, like so many other newcomers to the Big Apple, is taking refuge in New Jersey.
- The Royal Navy’s newest attack submarine, the Astute, is on its way to the Royal Navy’s famed submarine base in Faslane, Scotland.
- The littoral combat ship Freedom is making a visit to Naval Station Mayport, Fla., the local newspaper reported, nervously pointing out that LCS will “replace” the frigates homeported there.
- Have you heard about this amazing discovery of these World War II Japanese submarines off Hawaii?
- The Missile Defense Agency has announced the next six ships that will be upgraded with ballistic missile defense capability, and, as expected, they’re all East Coast destroyers.
- Remember that movie in which the decommissioned carrier John F. Kennedy inexplicably crushes the White House in a tidal wave? It comes out today.
Scratch one Royal Navy carrier — sort of
October 26th, 2009 | Aviation Carriers Royal Navy | Posted by Phil Ewing
One of the Royal Navy's planned carriers, scene in this illustration, could lose its capability to carry F-35Bs, the Ministry of Defence said Sunday // Royal Navy
Is it the first step toward the Royal Navy losing its new carriers? Or is it a compromise that will ensure they’ll both be built? Those seem to be the two options after the announcement Sunday that the Royal Navy is willing to delete the capability to handle F-35B Lightning IIs from one of its two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, now just beginning construction. That would mean the Ministry of Defence could buy fewer fighters, saving billions of pounds, but that for all its recent sacrifices, it would only field half the naval air power it originally wanted.
According to The Guardian, this could mean the Royal Navy might have to make even further concessions about its two carriers, including eliminating one or both altogether. And The Times reminds us the carrier change represents “another blow to the [Royal] Navy’s prestige,” after the British government announced not too long ago it was considering deleting one of the fleet’s four Vanguard-class ballistic-missile subs.
Here’s even more context: News broke on Friday that the Joint Strike Fighter could be billions of dollars over-budget and possibly in need of restructuring. So what would fewer jets going to the U.K. do to the rest of the program? Good question.
As it is, the Royal Navy is looking at a situation in which it’s spending a lot to get a ship it effectively didn’t need to build, writes Mike Burleson:
“We can only wonder if an upgraded Ocean class with a strengthened deck would have been less costly and less a burden to build during wartime.”
Heavy lift helo links
October 21st, 2009 | Historical Maritime operations Royal Navy Ships The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
A Marine CH-53E Super Stallion from HMH 464, the "Condors," flew over the Gulf of Aden, much as today's links fly new information to you // Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock/ Air Force
Big, loud, heavy, smelly, hydraulic fluid drippin’, cargo carryin’, mine sled dredgin’ links, getting ready to touch down on the flight deck and unload these updates:
- The crew of the cruiser Anzio — which you met a few weeks ago here on the Deck — made life unpleasant for some drug smugglers in the Gulf of Aden this week.
- As if South Carolina’s Patriots Point museum didn’t already have enough problems, Naval Sea Systems Command has passed the word: Either fix up the carrier Yorktown, which is in bad shape, or get ready to sink it.
- Today is the 212th anniversary of the launch of the frigate Constitution, or Old Ironsides, as we call it, which has made Maggie very excited, because she gets to take it out for a spin.
- Speaking of launches, the Royal Navy’s fifth Type 45 destroyer, or the Daring-class, as we call it, was set to launch today in the River Clyde in Scotland.
- Speaking of launches, the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy, check out this piece about the birth of the Continental Navy from Naval History and Heritage Command.
Limeys light ‘em up 2: Limeys light ‘em up again
September 29th, 2009 | Coast Guard Royal Navy Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
Drug runners be ye warned: The British frigate Iron Duke brought in the biggest cocaine seizure in the Royal Navy's history this week // Royal Navy
Does anyone not enjoy seeing the Royal Navy interdict drug smugglers, seize their contraband, then shoot up their vessels and sink them? If you don’t like it, don’t watch this video of the British frigate Iron Duke’s latest coup — the biggest cocaine seizure in Royal Navy history — which includes some pretty motivational footage of a helicopter machine gun raking the drug runners’ boat.
This is only the latest big takedown by Iron Duke, which Scoop Deck readers will remember from the last time it made a big drug collar out on the water. By the way, the embedded video here includes a voiceover added by the ITN network; you can see the Royal Navy’s raw, unedited video on its website here.
Gordon Brown’s SSBN situation
September 25th, 2009 | Ballistic missile defense Royal Navy Submarines The Middle East leadership | Posted by Phil Ewing
Arguments are taking place around the world over whether Britain should mothball one of its four Vanguard-class ballistic missile subs // Royal Navy
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s support for eliminating one of the Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines isn’t just a British issue anymore — there are reports about it from all around the world, including here in the States. The latest one to catch our attention was this editorial in the Wall Street Journal faulting Brown and his government for scaling back Great Britain’s nuclear deterrent:
[I]t’s no accident that Britain’s nuclear era coincides with her longest period of relative peace in history. Deterrence works, though its effects can only be inferred by crises evaded and battles not fought … All this, while Iran has just upgraded Britain to Most Evil Nation status. It’s an unpleasant reality and something Mr. Brown ought to think carefully about, lest he be accused of being Barack Obama’s poodle.
And that editorial was written before the world learned Friday that Iran has a second nuclear processing facility.
Here’s another thing to think about — what does Brown’s decision mean for the SSBN(X) program?
The U.S. and Royal Navies have said they want to share a common missile compartment for their next generation of ballistic-missile submarines. Will mothballing one Vanguard mean that work has to speed up? Or could it place Britain on the road to eliminating its deterrent mission altogether — as much of the population wants — and mean the U.S. will end up shouldering the whole load for SSBN(X)?
Airborne early warning links
September 11th, 2009 | Aviation Chiefs Royal Navy Science and technology Ships Submarines Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
Much as the E-2C Hawkeyes of VAW 115, the "Liberty Bells," become a strike group's eyes in the sky, so too do today's links give early warning about what's new on the Web // MC3 Jarod Hodge/ Navy
Bow catapult launchin’, air-searchin’, combat air patrol-vectorin’, friend-or-foe identifyin’ links, orbiting high above the strike group to alert you in advance about these items on the Web:
- The reef-ization of the destroyer Arthur W. Radford, which you learned about awhile ago here on the Deck, is reportedly going to be “a big deal” for Maryland tourism.
- A Royal Navy sailor has become the first woman in that august service, and only the second woman in Britain’s military, to receive the prestigious Military Cross.
- An marine inventor claims his new light submarine “has capability greater than the U.S. Navy”
- You probably thought “leaders” was just a normal English word, but it’s actually an acronym, according to this — on a related matter, hooya, chiefs!
- Navy Times told you recently about Virginia Sen. Jim Webb’s worries about the state of the Navy’s four shipyards — looks like he’s not the only one who’s concerned.
New Hampshire home from Europe
July 22nd, 2009 | Royal Navy Submarines | Posted by Andrew Scutro
U.S. Navy
The new Virginia-class attack submarine New Hampshire returned today to its homeport of New London, Conn., after its maiden voyage. New Hampshire operated in the European Command area and took part in the UK’s Joint Warrior — formerly known as Neptune Warrior — exercise. Other Virginia-class boats have done short first deployments to the 4th Fleet area.
New Hampshire, the fifth in its class, was commissioned less than a year ago, on Oct. 25 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Limeys light ‘em up
July 22nd, 2009 | Coast Guard Royal Navy Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
The sun set on the frigate Iron Duke as it prepared to pull out of Portsmouth, England for a deployment // Royal Navy
The crew of the Royal Navy frigate Iron Duke ruined the afternoon of some suspected drug smugglers this week, when it interdicted their boat, arrested them, and then sank their vessel. The BBC has some great video of the Iron Duke’s sailors going to town on the suspects’ vessel with their cannons and machine guns — you can see it here. The U.S. Coast Guard was also along for the ride, the Beeb reported.
Iron Duke, by the by, is the same frigate that England’s Prince William served aboard last year as part of his extended stint in the British military.
U.S. frigate: Rum’s on us, constable
July 20th, 2009 | Historical Photos Royal Navy | Posted by Phil Ewing
The crew of the frigate Halyburton presents a keg of rum to the Constable of the Tower of London // The Telegraph
“Ooo gaws thee-ahh? What tribute bring ye before the dread pow-ah of this Towah?”
The British press reports didn’t include a transcript of this weekend’s Constable’s Dues ceremony at the Tower of London, but that’s how it would’ve begun if Scoop Deck were in charge. However the script reads, the crew of the frigate Halyburton became the first foreign sailors in British history to present the yearly dues to the constable of the tower, in a centuries-old tradition. Specifically, the crew brought the constable a giant keg of rum.
Reports the AP: “In 1381, King Richard II issued a grant specifying the tolls, including ‘two roundlets of wyne’ for any galley passing the Tower. Adds Wikipedia: One reason ships paid the tribute was in exchange for the protection of the tower’s cannons.
So when they arrived for a port visit in London, the American crew was game. Although according to The Telegraph, the American sailors had to borrow some gear for the ceremony, given that U.S. warships are drier than the Gobi Desert:
The American shore party [...] marched through the Tower of London to Tower Green, accompanied by Yeoman Warders in scarlet and gold state dress and a Corps of Drums to deliver the rum to the current Constable, General Sir Roger Wheeler…
However [Halyburton skipper Cmdr. Michael P. Huck] admitted neither the cask nor the rum was actually cargo from the ship.
“The wine cask has been provided to us by the Tower authorities,” he said. “It will actually be filled with Castillo Silver Rum. Unfortunately, since we do not typically carry alcohol on-board, that was also provided to us.”
The constable’s post was once a powerful position. He was entitled to collect money from fishermen and pilgrims, and could claim any horses, oxen, pigs or sheep that fell off London Bridge.
Also absent from the British press coverage: Why didn’t the Royal Navy present the keg this year?