Royal Navy - Fleet Air Arm: News

Vladimir79 wrote:

JohninMK wrote:
Got to try to fill them with something.

They don't even have a well dock on it.  They going to fly everything to the beach?

Seems so, tho it is supposed to be able and launch 10 medium sized helicopters at once or six heavy, that means it can at once land 250-300 men depending on helicopters used.

Militarov wrote:

Seems so, tho it is supposed to be able and launch 10 medium sized helicopters at once or six heavy, that means it can at once land 250-300 men depending on helicopters used.

That would be a funny landing to watch as the biggest thing you can move are jeeps and howitzers when your enemy is rolling over you with tanks and BMPs.  I guess they will add LCVP winches to drop them off the side so they can move something a little bigger.  It makes for such an inefficient landing system when a Mistral LCAT can drop off more in a 15m trip than they can do in an hour.

UK Royal Marines’ new AW159 Wildcats complete first Norway tests

http://defence-blog.com/news/uk-royal-marines-new-aw159-wildcats-complete-first-norway-tests.html

Britain to Upgrade One of the Royal Navy’s New Aircraft Carriers to Back Amphibious Assaults



One of Britain’s new £3bn aircraft carriers will be modified to operate as an amphibious fighting platform for the Royal Marines.

Philip Dunne, defence procurement minister, revealed the move following a question from Fareham MP, Suella Fernandes.

It comes after the government announced it would be scrapping the 22,000-tonne helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean, which provides aerial support for the marines.

Mr Dunne promised one of the two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers – both of which will be based in Portsmouth – will be upgraded to maintain the nation’s ‘amphibious capability’.

The pledge comes following Ms Fernandes’s week spent on exercise with the navy’s elite troops in the freezing fjords of Norway.

Speaking to MPs in the Commons, Mr Dunne said: ‘The SDSR (Strategic Defence and Security Review) is committed to maintaining amphibious capability.

‘We will be making modifications to one of the two Queen Elizabeth carriers to ensure that that persists for the life of that platform.’

The QEC aircraft carriers will operate as part of a Maritime Task Group.

The carrier will be capable of deploying up to 40 helicopters to support the marines on operation, from Apache attack helicopters, to Merlins, Chinooks and Wildcats.

UK Royal Navy commissions third Astute-class SSN

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has commissioned its third Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN). HMS Artful joined the fleet in a ceremony at HM Naval Base Clyde, in Faslane, Scotland, on 18 March.

Admiral Sir George Zambellas, the RN's first sea lord and chief of the Naval Staff, told the ceremony that the commissioning of the third 97 m, 7,400-tonne Astute-class boat "dramatically increases the operational capability" of the navy's submarine flotilla.

In a press release, the navy said that the Astute class is "the largest, most advanced, and most powerful attack submarine ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design, and weaponry in a versatile vessel."


UK Extends Work on Anti-Submarine Frigate Program

A £472 million ($670 million) deal to continue work on a program to build a new class of Type 26 anti-submarine frigate has been sealed by the Ministry of Defence and shipbuilder BAE Systems, but both sides are being coy about when the warship's production will get underway.

BAE said March 22 that the £472 million contract it had been awarded would run for 15 months starting in April.

The new contract follows on from a £859 million, 12-month extension of demonstration phase work now coming to a close at the end of this month.

The latest deal will involve further maturing of the design and manufacturing of equipment for the first three of eight ships scheduled to be built by BAE at it’s Glasgow, Scotland, shipyards to replace the Royal Navy’s aging Type 23 fleet.

Neither the company nor the MoD would comment on whether a production contract would follow immediately after this latest demonstration deal comes to a close in June 2017, but that’s the likelihood.

Analysts and industry executives said that with work on some long-lead items ordered by BAE for the first ship already well advanced, they expect a production order for the platform itself around mid-2017.


Around this time last year, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Parliament the manufacturing phase for the Type 26 would start in 2016 with delivery of the new capability to the Royal Navy in 2022.

That start date is being pushed back a little with both parties now only saying the Type 26 “will in time replace” the long-serving Type 23.

That may simply be reflecting a desire not to become a hostage to fortune by announcing the timing rather than anything more sinister; although MoD budgets may become a bigger-than-normal problem during the financial year 2017/18.

The first Type 23, HMS Argyll, is scheduled to be retired in 2023, but some work has been done recently to see if additional life can be squeezed out of a platform that is already being updated with a number of new systems, such as MBDA’s new Sea Ceptor anti-air missile.

Royal Navy officers and industry executives have previously said the delivery schedule for the Type 26 was dictated by the pressing need to start pensioning off Type 23s starting in 2023.

The timing of the build program is complicated by the decision in last November’s strategic defense and security review (SDSR) to reduce Type 26 numbers from 13 to eight and introduce a new class of at least five light, general purpose frigates.

The build programs are likely to be concurrent. Executives have previously said the general purpose frigate, known as the Type 31, could enter the build program much earlier than imagined.

The Royal Navy are in the early concept phase on the Type 31 and have yet to lock down a design.

To complete the building program at the BAE shipyard, the SDSR added two offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Navy to the three already under construction at BAE.

The MoD refered to the recent Type 26 deal as a "demonstration contract," although in reality much of the work revolves around manufacturing and award of supply chain orders to help maintain program momentum .

Rolls-Royce gas turbines, GE Power Conversion with the electric propulsion motor and drive system, and Babcock International's air weapons handling system are among the local and foreign contractors already under contract to supply items for the first three warships.

The first MT30 gas turbine destined for the Type 26 is scheduled to be handed over to BAE by the end of the year.

By the end of the latest contract, BAE said in a statement it hopes to have around 50 equipment suppliers awarded manufacturing deals.

Diesel generators, mission bay doors, and stabilizer and steering gear selection will be among the deals to be struck over the next few months

Geoff Searle, Type 26 program director at BAE, said: “This is a significant investment in the program and an endorsement of the government’s commitment to sustain this important national capability. The program is progressing well, and over the coming months more of our partners in the supply chain will start to manufacture equipment for the first three ships as we continue to progress towards the manufacturing phase."

The contract award comes hard on the heels of an announcement that one of Britain’s most senior businessmen has been put in charge of a government drive to deliver a national shipbuilding strategy for the naval sector here.

Sir John Parker’s appointment as the chairman of the National Shipbuilding Strategy was part of the Treasury’s budget day announcements on March 16.

A Treasury-led effort to develop a surface warship building strategy has been underway since at least January 2015, when the initiative was announced by the chancellor, George Osborne, during a visit to the Portsmouth naval base on England’s south coast.

The businessman’s credentials include stints as chairman of Babcock International, BVT Surface Fleet and currently Anglo American. He’s a naval architect and a non-executive director of the Airbus Group.

The appointment was welcomed by industry executives. “He’s very shrewd, trusted by government and seen as impartial. He’s an elder statesman and I would struggle to find someone better,” one industry executive said.

An MoD spokeswoman said Parker will report on the strategy to government ministers by the deadline of the Autumn Statement 2016, which is expected no later than early December.

“His report will include recommendations on the management and governance arrangements for implementing the strategy in the longer term, including arrangements for any external oversight,” the spokeswoman said. “He will lead the high-level engagement with key senior defense, government departments and industry stakeholders. He will provide strategic direction and guidance to a cross Whitehall teams and report to Ministers."

Key to the strategy is the build program for the Type 26 and Type 31 frigates.

Parker has been put in charge of leading strategic efforts to put Britain’s naval shipbuilding industry on a more sustainable, long-term basis with a mix of Royal Navy and export orders.

“It will look at the potential to build a new complex warship on a regular schedule and maximize export opportunities in order to deliver capable ships and value for money, as well as maintaining jobs and skills,” the spokeswoman said.

Why the Royal Navy has just been cut by another 2 ships

There has been no official announcement but in early 2016 the surface fleet was effectively reduced by a further two ships.

HMS Dauntless, in commission for just 6 years has been reduced to harbour training ship status and unlikely to go to sea for some time. Dauntless has suffered the most from the propulsion defects that have plagued the Type 45s. A cure will be found and she should eventually resume a full operational role, although it is unclear when this may be. The MoD is still considering proposals for rectifying the Type 45 propulsion but it will require major work, almost certainly involving cutting open the hull and the insertion of at least one new generator set and this will not happen before 2019.

HMS Lancaster has been put into “mothballs”, or in MoD double-speak, “extended readiness”. She is being stripped of stores for use by active ships and laid up in the basin in Portsmouth where ships have traditionally awaited disposal. This is not to say Lancaster will never go to sea again. Her official out of service date is listed as 2024 and she remains in commission. She may be refitted and see further service after a few years laid up. Alternatively she may go the way of several RN vessels that languished in extended readiness for years before a final trip to a Turkish scrapyard. Lancaster is one of the older Type 23s, she had a £17.9M ‘mid-life’ refit in 2011-12 but does not carry the Type 2087 towed array sonar or the Artisan radar the rest of the class have received.

Reducing the status of these 2 vessels was not a cut mandated by government, rather a wise, if difficult decision taken by the RN leadership in the face of a manpower crisis. The 2015 SDSR supposedly promised an end to cuts but this reduction is not a result of recent policy. This is the legacy from years of commitments mismatched with inadequate resources, over-stretching the service. Both ships could possibly have been keep operational but there is such a shortage of people, that it could only be done at the expense of breaking promises. Keeping ships alongside obviously saves money but lack of suitably qualified & experienced technical senior rates is the bigger immediate problem.

Trading a temporary weakening of frontline strength for a reduction in stress on a service with shaky morale may prove to be a prudent decision in the long-term.

Retaining the best people has to be a priority, particularly at a time when the new aircraft carriers are building up their ship’s companies. If appropriate levels of manpower cannot be generated and retained, then the great plans for the fleet of the 2020s lack credibility. Overworking engineers and shuffling them around the fleet to cover gaps is ultimately counter-productive if they leave in droves for better-paid opportunities in the civilian sector with stable working hours. As comments on manpower posts on this site indicate, there is a great deal of resentment and anger amongst some ratings due to past broken promises and too much time deployed. By mothballing these ships some of that can be alleviated, this measure alone is by no means a panacea but there are lots of other personnel retention initiatives in hand. Unfortunately beyond RN control, less attractive armed forces pensions and another inadequate pay rise of just 1% are hardly helping matters. It should also be noted that stress on submarine manpower is similar. The commitment to the continuous at sea deterrent and the small fleet of attack boats leaves the submarine service even fewer options than surface fleet has for relieving pressure.

More ships are being kept in home waters so promises to personnel about leave & length of time away from family can be honoured. The effects on the frontline are visible. The priority commitment to the Persian Gulf remains but some of the RN’s regular tasks are impacted. Sending HMS Iron Duke to join a NATO group appears to be at the expense of the Atlantic Patrol Task (South). The prime focus of APT(S) is to provide reassurance to the Falklands Islands but recently it has included defence diplomacy in West Africa, South Africa and South America. Although Argentina still claims the islands, the demise of the crazed Kirchner administration offers more hope for sensible relations. Despite rumours of Chinese or Russian assistance, the Argentine Navy and Airforce are currently in a pitiful state and fortunately offer very little threat to the Falklands.

A resurgent Russia with submarines and aircraft frequently probing near to UK waters and airspace may also explain why RN is keeping more of its fleet closer to home in European or Northern waters. Apart from the 2 in mothballs, 10 of the RN’s escorts were either alongside at home or in UK waters around Easter 2016 with just 3 overseas and 4 undergoing major refit. HMS Iron Duke is currently attached to Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in the Baltic region and was recently joined by HMS Sutherland & HMS Monmouth participating in NATO exercise Cold Response off Norway. More RN vessels will be deployed on large-scale NATO exercise BALTOPS later this year. An increased commitment to NATO makes sense. While the ‘Brexit’ debate rages and the value of the EU to our security is hotly debated, it should be noted that NATO is the real bedrock of European defence.

The 13 frigates and 6 destroyers that comprise the escort fleet was already painfully inadequate, even for existing tasks and the semi-permanent absence of one of each type will just makes matters worse. Mothballing ships maybe the right choice in difficult circumstances, but the ability of the RN to respond quickly to a serious crisis in the near future is further impaired.

UK looks to outline requirement for new General Purpose Frigate




A high-level UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) panel will sit later this month to frame requirements for the Royal Navy's (RN's) nascent General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) programme.

The Joint Requirements Oversight Committee (JROC) is expected to provide the first hard guidance on the capabilities required in the new class - previously referred to as the Light General Purpose Frigate, and also dubbed Type 31 - some six months after the requirement for the frigate was announced as part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR 2015).

Prior to SDSR 2015, the RN had been planning for 13 Type 26 Global Combat Ships to provide one-for-one replacements of its Type 23 frigates; the navy also had been robust in its rejection of a less capable 'second-tier' surface combatant. However, the review committed to eight Type 26s and unveiled plans for a new, smaller, and more exportable general-purpose frigate to maintain frigate hull numbers at 13.

Although some pre-concept work has been undertaken in Naval Command Headquarters (NCHQ) and the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation, there has as yet been no formal guidance on where the new GPFF will sit on the cost/capability curve. "At the moment, the solution space extends from an offshore patrol vessel at one end of the spectrum to a Type 26 'lite' at the other, and everything in between," one industry source said. "Everyone in NCHQ has a different view as to what it should be."

JROC deliberations on the capability required of the GPFF will be informed by operational analysis being undertaken by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

"The Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 45 destroyers are breaking down because their engines cannot cope with the Persian Gulf’s warm waters.

Rolls-Royce are blaming extremes of temperature in the Middle East for the repeated power outages that have left Britain’s best fighting ships without propulsion or weapons systems. Six Clyde-built Type 45 destroyers need work expected to cost tens of millions of pounds after a string of power failures.

If it is not done, the vessels could be left as sitting ducks in battle if the UK is in a major conflict at sea again. A Whitehall source said: “We can’t have warships that cannot operate if the water is warmer than it is in Portsmouth harbour."

Most likely Royal Navy making scenes on purpose to get more funding, as they are about to get cut down

Source: http://defence-blog.com/news/royal-navy-in-hot-water-as-engines-of-britains-flagship-1bn-destroyers-break-down-in-middle-of-sea.html

UK upgrading Trident MK 4 warhead fuze

The Times inaccurately reports that Britain has been ‘secretly’ developing a more destructive nuclear warhead.

There is no Trident upgrade taking place in secret. The UK currently fields the Trident Mark 4 warhead as part of the Trident Strategic Weapons System. The Mark 4A Arming, Fuzing and Firing system is a non-nuclear component being introduced into the UK Trident warhead to replace a similar component which is becoming obsolete. This is not a new warhead and does not change the destructive power of the weapon.

Our position is below.

“The government is committed to maintaining minimum continuous at sea deterrence to deter the most extreme threats to the UK and to protect our vital interests; a decision on replacing the warhead will be taken when necessary.”

As stated in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, work continues to determine the optimum life of the UK's existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options. A replacement warhead is not required until at least the late 2030s, possibly later.

Given lead times, however, a decision on replacing the warhead may be required in this Parliament or early in the next. The Government will inform Parliament of its intended approach in due course.

BAE unveils General Purpose Frigate concepts

1. Avenger builds on the pedigree of the existing Amazonas-class/River-class Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel

• Cutlass is a stretched and enhanced derivative of the RNO Al Shamikh-class corvette design

BAE Systems Naval Ships has lifted the lid on its initial thinking regarding the UK's projected General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) programme, revealing two export-derived concept designs positioned to address different points on the cost/capability curve.

Plans to acquire a new class of more affordable and potentially exportable light frigate were announced in November last year as part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR15). While the new Type 26 Global Combat Ship - eight of which are now planned - will primarily support carrier task group operations and provide protection for the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent, the GPFF is to be rolled for a range of less high-tempo tasks.

While neither key user requirements nor an acquisition strategy have yet to be finalised for the GPFF project, there is already a growing expectation within industry that cost and programme constraints will condition the procurement of an essentially military off-the-shelf (MOTS) design solution. With uncertainty as to the balance of cost and capability required, BAE Systems has over the last six months worked up two different ship concepts - each an enlarged and modified version of a previously built MOTS export design - that map onto different ends of the requirements spectrum. In each case, the company has sought to retain as much as possible of the existing detailed design.



The first concept, known as Avenger, is a 111 m design that builds on the pedigree of the existing 90 m Amazonas-class/River-class Batch 2 (RCB2) offshore patrol vessel (OPV) and very much plots onto the lower end of the solution space. However, while the parent design is largely built to commercial standards, the Avenger embodies improved resilience and survivability; for example, being designed to more stringent naval standards and introducing greater redundancy in main and auxiliary machinery arrangements.

Royal Navy will remove from service Harpoon anti-ship missiles by the end of 2018

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2260494.html

In June 2014 the UK Ministry of Defence issued a task to carry out in 2018 works to extend the life of the Harpoon Block 1C missiles to the British Navy for 2020-2023 period. However, we now know that for reasons of economy decided to abandon the extension of the life of these missiles and finality to remove them from service by the end of 2018.

Another reason for the failure to continue the preservation of Harpoon Block 1C missiles referred to are not enough high performance for use in coastal waters, in particular the low selectivity of active radar homing - with high probabilities of pointing to "foreign" ships and boats instead of the intended target.

Currently, the UK has no program to replace Harpoon missiles. Nominally, together with France are underway in the initial study on the possibility of creating a prospective RCC Future Cruise Anti-Ship Weapon, but its entry into service in any case it will be possible beyond 2030.

According to the author, the fact that a relatively small annual cost savings to be gained from the removal of a Harpoon missile weapons considered necessary to reflect the strongest power of the British Navy's financial position. The situation is particularly acute in view of the need to finance the construction of large ships [refers to aircraft carriers and nuclear missile submarines].

Harry stranded as ships break down



Prince Harry was left stranded after the Navy ship he is travelling on broke down during his tour of the Caribbean. The Prince was due to leave the island of St Vincent on Saturday evening and spend the night moored offshore but the ship, RFA Wave Knight, would not start.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3976754/Harry-stranded-ships-break-Prince-s-Caribbean-tour-plunged-chaos-vessel-refuses-start.html

Looks like the epic twitter trolling during Kuz's smoky passage through the Channel backfired.
First HMS Duncan, now RFA Wave Knight with the Prince on-board while on state visits.

JohninMK wrote:

KiloGolf wrote:

Harry stranded as ships break down

Prince Harry was left stranded after the Navy ship he is travelling on broke down during his tour of the Caribbean. The Prince was due to leave the island of St Vincent on Saturday evening and spend the night moored offshore but the ship, RFA Wave Knight, would not start.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3976754/Harry-stranded-ships-break-Prince-s-Caribbean-tour-plunged-chaos-vessel-refuses-start.html

Looks like the epic twitter trolling during Kuz's smoky passage through the Channel backfired.
First HMS Duncan, now RFA Wave Knight with the Prince on-board while on state visits.

Probably just a flat battery. They will be able to jump start it from a tug or even give it a tow start.

Yeah, maybe they need to give it a gentle push as well

Should MiG be disbanded for this? I mean it just goes beyond replacing the management team this time...

GarryB wrote:Should MiG be disbanded for this? I mean it just goes beyond replacing the management team this time...

MiG is perfectly capable of disbanding themselves. Nobody really buys their plane.
It's either the Russian taxpayer or nobody (India will go western for their next carrier unless Russia lobbies hard).

Not sure how your comment fits into this thread.

quite right... back on topic...

Naming a ship Duncan?

Really?

Will the sister ship be called Keith?

MiG is perfectly capable of disbanding themselves. Nobody really buys their plane.
It's either the Russian taxpayer or nobody (India will go western for their next carrier unless Russia lobbies hard).

Was going to come back with something along the lines of British fighter aircraft company xyz should be disbanded but there are no British fighter aircraft making companies any more...

GarryB wrote:Was going to come back with something along the lines of British fighter aircraft company xyz should be disbanded but there are no British fighter aircraft making companies any more...

There's BAe, they make the Typhoon.

GarryB wrote:

Not sure how your comment fits into this thread.

quite right... back on topic...

Naming a ship Duncan?

Really?

Will the sister ship be called Keith?

MiG is perfectly capable of disbanding themselves. Nobody really buys their plane.
It's either the Russian taxpayer or nobody (India will go western for their next carrier unless Russia lobbies hard).

Was going to come back with something along the lines of British fighter aircraft company xyz should be disbanded but there are no British fighter aircraft making companies any more...

BAE is making 35% of the F-35 and will have an assembly line. They provide like almost 30% of the Gripen. And big chunk of Typhoon and assemble it too. Then you have BAE Hawk 200...

Militarov wrote:

GarryB wrote:

Not sure how your comment fits into this thread.

quite right... back on topic...

Naming a ship Duncan?

Really?

Will the sister ship be called Keith?

MiG is perfectly capable of disbanding themselves. Nobody really buys their plane.
It's either the Russian taxpayer or nobody (India will go western for their next carrier unless Russia lobbies hard).

Was going to come back with something along the lines of British fighter aircraft company xyz should be disbanded but there are no British fighter aircraft making companies any more...

BAE is making 35% of the F-35 and will have an assembly line. They provide like almost 30% of the Gripen. And big chunk of Typhoon and assemble it too. Then you have BAE Hawk 200...

Sure but these percentages don't matter as they could make the whole plane easily and the engines. It was more profitable to spread the project. BAe also was in charge for the exported Typhoons.

No, it will be Tracy.

I am sure all the members of the committee who decide that will all agree that is the best name for that ship.

BAE is making 35% of the F-35 and will have an assembly line. They provide like almost 30% of the Gripen. And big chunk of Typhoon and assemble it too. Then you have BAE Hawk 200...

So they make fighter planes like Nii Stali make tanks... right.

The Royal Navy Only Has 26 Combat Vessels (And Is Now Killing-Off Its Only Aircraft Carrier)



Robert Beckhusen
December 7, 2016

HMS Illustrious, the last of the Royal Navy’s Invincible-class carriers, has set sail from Portsmouth to meet her doom at a Turkish scrapyard.

The British government chose to sell her for scrap in 2014, but Illustrious’ final journey nonetheless signals the end of an era during a low point for the shrinking Royal Navy. Illustrious was the second Invincible class between HMS Invincible and Ark Royal, scrapped in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

The carriers were products of the Cold War, as Britain designed them primarily to hunt Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic with their on-board complement of up to 22 helicopters of various types. Fixed-wing Harrier jets, taking off with the aid of a ski-jump ramp, provided extra firepower and defense from enemy aircraft.

While they were technically carriers by any reasonable definition, these 22,000-ton vessels were significantly lighter than the 100,000-ton Nimitz-class supercarriers of the U.S. Navy. A better proxy would be the Russian Kiev-class carriers — only one which survives today in Indian Navy service.

The Invincible class also had similarities to U.S. Adm. Elmo Zumwalt’s design for a small, practical “Sea Control Ship” that would protect convoys from submarines and air attack.

Invincible would serve during the Falklands War in 1982. Illustrious, which launched in 1978 and was still undergoing trials when Argentina invaded the islands, did not. But the war caused the Royal Navy to rush her into service, and she relieved her sister ship in the South Atlantic a few months after Argentina’s defeat

Illustrious largely lived out the ’80s as an anti-submarine vessel patrolling in the Atlantic. In 1986, her gearbox exploded and caught the ship on fire for several hours — the vessel was nearly lost. In the ’90s, she sailed in the Adriatic Sea and Persian Gulf aiding no-fly zones over Bosnia and Iraq.

In 2000, she supported a British task force that dropped 600 soldiers into Sierra Leone, helping save Freetown from falling to an army of marauding child soldiers.

“The ship’s flexibility was clearly demonstrated by her ability to successfully operate in the anti-submarine, strike, commando, diplomatic, trade promotion and humanitarian relief roles,” naval writer Richard Johnstone-Bryden wrote.

After that, she roamed around on training exercises, responding to disasters and bailing British citizens out of hotspots. She also helped allies hone their carrier-hunting skills.

In 2013, the U.S. Navy attack submarine USS Dallas apparently sneaked close enough to Illustrious during a simulated battle to pretend “sink” her. The same thing happened during a 2007 exercise involving the Canadian submarine HCMS Corner Brook.

Within a few weeks, Turkish scrap merchants will break Illustrious apart. But despite a campaign to save her, convert her into a hospital ship or — bizarrely — turn Illustrious into a traveling billboard for British trade, she is old and expensive to keep running. One of the biggest issues are her four, ancient, Olympus TM3B gas turbine engines, which are rickety.

Keeping Illustrious in service was a no-go. The Royal Navy has a manpower shortage that must support its lone helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean, and the larger carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales when they arrive in the 2020s.

Britain also got rid of its Harrier jump jets six years ago.

“She was a lovely ship, she was cutting edge technology,” David Stares, who served aboard Illustrious during the 1980s, said according to the Belfast Telegraph. “Now she’s gone despite a lot of people wanting to save her. She was a brilliant ship, great crew, she was a large family.”

Regardless, the Royal Navy has deeper problems than scrapping the last of its 1970s-era carriers. Aside from the shortage in personnel, the budget has shrunk and the fleet is hard-pressed to protect Britain’s nearby waters.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-royal-navy-only-has-26-combat-vessels-now-killing-its-18649