£2bn Navy ships get the OK
Awesome .. the Royal Navy's new giant carriers - the Queen Elizabeth Class - will be twice the size of its current ones. They'll be the largest warships in Western Europe and the largest ever built in Britain.
By JOHN KAY
Chief Reporter
and TOM NEWTON-DUNN
Defence Editor
April 21, 2007
ROYAL Navy top brass were cock-a-hoop last night after the go-ahead was given to build new super aircraft carriers each worth £2BILLION.
Senior Service chiefs feared plans for the “floating battlefields” may be axed because of budget cuts.
But defence chiefs and Government officials decided they were crucial if Britain is to keep its place as a world military power.
The move will create jobs in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and the Clyde shipyards in Scotland where the 60,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth II and sister ship HMS Prince of Wales will be built.
The vessels — each one of which can carry 50 aircraft including fighters and bombers and serve all three forces at once — will come into service between 2012 and 2015.
They will replace our three existing aircraft carriers — Illustrious, Ark Royal and Invincible — and are TWICE the size of the dated vessels which can launch only Harrier Jump Jets.
They will give Britain massive extra military muscle and mean the RAF will no longer need to seek permission to overfly other nations.
A military source said: “They can just park up six miles offshore from an enemy country and deliver devastating firepower.
“They’ll give a vastly increased range to anything the RAF could offer. Just the threat of deploying them may make hostile nations see sense.”
A top Naval source said: “This means Britain will remain a significant military power.”
It is thought the decision was made after criticism of the Government over its plans to mothball Navy frigates and destroyers.
The ships will be built by a consortium of BAe Systems and VT Group which have yards on the Clyde and at Portsmouth.
They will have a “ski-jump” and a “catapult” for launching planes. Aircraft will be able to land vertically after missions.
Former Navy officer Mike Critchley, of Warship World magazine, said of the vessels: “They put the Navy back in the First Division.”
thesun.co.uk
Awesome .. the Royal Navy's new giant carriers - the Queen Elizabeth Class - will be twice the size of its current ones. They'll be the largest warships in Western Europe and the largest ever built in Britain.
Chief Reporter
and TOM NEWTON-DUNN
Defence Editor
April 21, 2007
ROYAL Navy top brass were cock-a-hoop last night after the go-ahead was given to build new super aircraft carriers each worth £2BILLION.
Senior Service chiefs feared plans for the “floating battlefields” may be axed because of budget cuts.
But defence chiefs and Government officials decided they were crucial if Britain is to keep its place as a world military power.
The move will create jobs in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and the Clyde shipyards in Scotland where the 60,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth II and sister ship HMS Prince of Wales will be built.
The vessels — each one of which can carry 50 aircraft including fighters and bombers and serve all three forces at once — will come into service between 2012 and 2015.
They will replace our three existing aircraft carriers — Illustrious, Ark Royal and Invincible — and are TWICE the size of the dated vessels which can launch only Harrier Jump Jets.
They will give Britain massive extra military muscle and mean the RAF will no longer need to seek permission to overfly other nations.
A military source said: “They can just park up six miles offshore from an enemy country and deliver devastating firepower.
“They’ll give a vastly increased range to anything the RAF could offer. Just the threat of deploying them may make hostile nations see sense.”
A top Naval source said: “This means Britain will remain a significant military power.”
It is thought the decision was made after criticism of the Government over its plans to mothball Navy frigates and destroyers.
The ships will be built by a consortium of BAe Systems and VT Group which have yards on the Clyde and at Portsmouth.
They will have a “ski-jump” and a “catapult” for launching planes. Aircraft will be able to land vertically after missions.
Former Navy officer Mike Critchley, of Warship World magazine, said of the vessels: “They put the Navy back in the First Division.”
thesun.co.uk
Sometimes funny, too.
