Like so many defence procurements, the delivery of the Bay Class landing ships was protracted and over-budget. Despite their difficult birth, the three vessels that remain in the fleet today have proved to be great assets to the Naval Service, offering flexibility and value for money in a variety of roles. Here we look at these ships and their history in detail.
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In late August HMS Queen Elizabeth will leave Portsmouth for her Westlant 18 trip. The ship will be away for around four months and, although not an operational deployment, this will be her longest and most demanding period at sea so far. The centrepiece of the deployment will be the fixed-wing First of Class Trials (FOCT) with F-35Bs touching down on her deck for the first time. In this article we look at the preparation and plans for the flying trials.
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This week the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee was examining the Submarine Nuclear Enterprise. The session primarily dealt with finance and planning for the Dreadnought programme but the Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Tony Radakin also gave evidence about submarine manning issues. Lack of suitably experienced and qualified personnel for the submarine service has been a problem for almost a decade but there are some signs of improvement.
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Today it became clear that the BAE Systems Type 26 design has won the Australian SEA 5000 frigate competition. As we argued in a previous article, Type 26 was the best of the three candidates for the ASW needs of the Australian navy and any potential obstacles to selection would only be political and industrial. Victory in this competition is significant for the Royal Navy, industry and the UK as a whole and here we look at why.
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Originally designed with a service life of around 18 years, the RN’s Type 23 Frigates will now have to serve for around 30 years. All 13 frigates are undergoing life extension (LIFEX) refits and an important component of these upgrades is the Power Generation Machinery Upgrade (PGMU) to replace the ships’ four diesel generator sets.
Read More›HMS Queen Elizabeth conducted her first Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with RFA Tidespring this week. While the main purpose of her current deployment is to conduct helicopter flight trials in the Eastern Atlantic, the opportunity was taken to prove her RAS capability.
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