Defence`s Feeds

The Taleban’s ideology has transformed over the past two decades. While the movement once typified a ‘traditionalist’ Islam – that is, it sought to articulate and defend a particular concept of Islam found in southern Pashtun villages – it is now, in its insurgency phase, closer to forms of political Islam espoused in the Arab world. This does not mean that the Taleban are less conservative or authoritarian, rather that the objects of their repression and the way they frame their mission have shifted in important ways. In a major new report, AAN guest authors Anand Gopal and Alex Strick van Linschoten examine the changes as well as the continuity in the Taleban’s ideology from the 1980s to the present day. The report is the product of years of interviews, fieldwork in Afghanistan, as well as their time working with the Taliban Sources Project archive, a significant collection of documents relating to the Taleban movement.

Outsiders have been trying to understand the Afghan Taleban for over two decades. Most of the members of the movement’s leadership have avoided interviews and public appearances, and the ongoing conflict has made tracking them down for a wider ethnographic study extremely dangerous. Until recently, this left researchers with few options. Over the past seven years, however, an archival project took shape, culminating in the Taliban Sources Project. It has been tremendously challenging to collect, digitise and translate the Taleban’s written output over the years. The authors’ initial motivation was that it would stimulate new research into the movement’s history. As the authors collected more, they thought it was worth trying to examine the ways in which the Taleban’s ideology had changed over time.

The documents and interviews challenge three conventional notions of Taleban ideology:

1. That the Taleban’s ideology is a mechanical, literalist interpretation of Islam that has not changed in over thirty years.
2. That the Taleban’s ideology was born in Pakistani refugee camps, and represents a phenomenon alien to Afghan society.
3. That the Taleban’s ideology represents a form of Deobandism (or, in some variants, Wahhabism) that stands in opposition to Sufism and other religious tendencies prevalent in Afghan society.

The main conclusions drawn in the paper are that the Afghan Taleban’s ideology is a) the result of a sophisticated internal logic that has changed in subtle but important ways over the years, b) the origins of the Taleban’s ideology lie in the southern Pashtun village, not the Pakistani refugee camp, and 3) their thinking is heavily infused with Sufism.

In this seventeenth year of the US-led international military intervention in Afghanistan, a re-thinking of outsiders’ understanding of the Taleban’s beliefs is sorely needed. That the Taleban’s ideology has evolved does not mean that the group is any less oppressive or brutal, but it does mean the nature of their oppression has changed, which may one day provide an opening for engagement. This evolution is partly the result of the exigencies of insurgent warfare, which have exerted different constraints and pressures on the movement than the ones faced when in power, and partly the result of demographics: a new generation has risen within the middle ranks of the movement, some of whom have brought new ideas with them. To grasp what the old generation stands for and how the ground is shifting beneath these core principles, therefore, is to better understand the structures of the movement in general.

In this survey of the Taleban’s written documents and based on years interviewing actors in Afghanistan, the authors found that the movement’s ideology is historically rooted in the world of the pre-1979 (pre-Soviet invasion) Pashtun villages in southern Afghanistan. The village contains various and competing ethical traditions, one of which laid the basis for the future Taleban movement. Key features of Taleban repression, such as restrictions on women or banning music, had their antecedents in the southern Pashtun countryside.

More than half of the Taleban senior leadership – including nearly all the key ideological influencers – were born before 1965, which means that they received their primary education and formative childhood experiences prior to the 1979 upheaval.

The classic theory of the Taleban states that the movement is the product of Pakistani madrassas, but data presented in this report suggests that at least 60 per cent of the 1990s leadership (defined as those who served in ministerial and deputy-ministerial ranks, were front line commanders, or held informal positions among Mullah Omar’s retinue) received a significant portion of their education inside Afghanistan. Moreover, the senior leadership’s core education took place in hujras, informal guestrooms in village mosques, and featured a curriculum that was far more eclectic and irregular than the Deobandi curriculum found in major Afghan and Pakistani madrassas.

Through links to Deobandism and indigenous religious practice, the Taleban leadership, particularly supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, was deeply influenced by Sufism. This has been explored in previous AAN dispatches by Bette Dam and Fabrizio Foschini.

The Taleban’s ideology is based on a particular epistemology, a theory of knowledge, in their case, religious knowledge. In the past, this epistemology was intimately linked to certain rural Pashtun traditions of virtue. A study of the foundations of this epistemology suggest that the group’s beliefs and practices were never simply a mechanical imitation of a literalist reading of texts or a blind attempt to recreate the early days of the Prophet Muhammad, but rather were the result of a sophisticated internal logic deeply tied to notions of honour, virtue and repressive power among Pashtun villagers. (For background, see this 2011 AAN paper about Pashtunwali).

Recently, however, we have seen a shift towards a more ‘modern’ type of Islamist reasoning found in groups ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda. Today’s fighters look very different to their predecessors. Gone are the days of enforced asceticism and ritual purity on the frontline—today’s involvement with criminal networks, the opium trade, extortion and kidnapping that mark the current insurgency would have been unthinkable among the self-disciplined taleban fronts of the 1980s (on these taleban fronts in the 1980s’ mujahedin tanzim, before the formation of the Taleban movement, see this 2010 AAN paper) This shift is largely a reflection of the pragmatic concerns of statecraft and, in particular, of running an insurgency.

The key transformation in Taleban ideology has been a shift from an emphasis on outward conduct – the knowledge of rites, bodily comportment, a Prophetic lifestyle, prayer techniques and schedules and other aspects of everyday rituals – to behaviour that today focuses more on internal beliefs and loyalty. The distinction is between act and intent as the objects of Taleban repression. This shift, which is strongest in sections of the leadership, helps explain the movement’s embrace of once-forbidden items such as film and photography. The pragmatic exigencies of waging an insurgency spurred this ideological shift.

To be sure, these shifts and trends differ throughout the movement; they more accurately describe the evolution of the leadership than the rank-and-file, which in some cases may still be espousing traditionalist viewpoints.

Revolutionary Islamism does not necessarily translate as transnational jihad. In fact, what continues to unite all wings of the Afghan Taleban movement is a commitment to Afghanistan’s sovereignty—which is, in effect, a form of nationalism. Despite the Taleban’s rejection of non-Sharia-based normative systems, the movement has not rejected coexistence with those systems in the international state system. Moreover, the Taleban’s imagined community is limited to Afghans in practical terms, if not always in their rhetoric.

Questions of ideology and ideological shift bring a broader perspective into view, one that does not necessarily match every moment of daily life as lived in Afghanistan. When it comes to finding useful strategic insights from these long-term changes, making connections becomes harder still. Nevertheless, this is the place from which we should start: primary sources, interviews and a sense of the Taleban leadership’s position and perspective from talking with them. Only then can we hope to start to untangle the intricacies of how the Taleban has changed over time, and discover who they have become.

The full report can be read here.

British L115A3 Sniper Rifle

The US Navy has chosen shipbuilding company Metal Shark to develop near-coastal patrol vessels (NCPVs) for the US partner nations.

Austal has secured a new A$779m ($584m) contract to construct the Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS 28) for the US Navy.

Nato has launched the Dynamic Mongoose 2017 (DMON17) anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise off the coast of Iceland.

Americas

• Acting Secretary of the US Navy (USN) Sean Stackley has revealed that there are issues concerning the General Atomics-built Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) when launching F/A-18 aircraft that are loaded with fuel tanks. Stakley told a congressional hearing on June 16 that vibrations were detected when fuel tanks were attached to Super Hornets, “so now what they’re doing is going back through the software and adjusting the system to remove that vibration.” Installed onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, EMALS is intended to enable a higher degree of computer control, more accurate end-speed control, and smoother acceleration when launching carrier-based fixed-wing aircraft, and is also intended to adapt to future carrier air-wing platforms, such as lightweight unmanned systems or future heavy strike aircraft.

• The Colombian Air Force (FAC) has added two additional Kfir fighter aircraft to its fleet as replacements for aircraft lost in training accidents. Bogota has lost four trainers from 2009-14, as well as one operational fighter, leaving its only one two-seat Kfir and a limited training ability. Alternative options included bringing back two Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighters from retirement, but ultimately, the Kfir option was chosen. Israel have had the Kfir aircraft in storage since their retirement from the IAF as they look to sell them second-hand to cash strapped governments looking for a cheap fighter solution.

• Raytheon have tested a high energy laser system installed on a AH-64 attack helicopter. The test at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, saw the helicopter go airborne with the system before successfully engaging several targets, including a tank. The system saw Raytheon pair a variant of the Multi-Spectral Targeting System, an advanced electro-optical infrared sensor, with a laser. The MTS provided targeting information, situational awareness and beam control. The demonstration marks the first time that a fully integrated laser system successfully engaged and fired on a target from a rotary-wing aircraft over a wide variety of flight regimes, altitudes and air speeds.

Africa

• Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) has announced that United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) have delivered two Su-30 fighter aircraft to the government of Nigeria. Ten more aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2018. The acquisition is one of several air platforms being procured for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), with $68.76 million earmarked “for counter air, counter surface, air ops for strategic effect and air support operations.” These include purchases of JF-17 fighters from Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Mi-35M helicopters, and the A-29 Super Tucano for COIN operations.

Europe

• The UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has began sea trials after leaving BAE’s shipyard in Scotland on Monday. During the six week trial, crew will test the vessel’s speed, maneuverability, power and propulsion, and weaponry before returning to its shipyard Rosyth for further testing and maintenance and then return to sea to test mission systems. She will later transfer to Portsmouth Naval Base to be handed over to the Royal Navy later this year.

• RAMSYS GmbH has being awarded a $92.3 million contract for design and development work on the Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2B (RAM) in a deal fully funded by the German government. Work will be conducted mainly at Ueberlingen, Germany, and several other sites across the country with a completion date scheduled for June 2021. The program is a joint effort between the the German and US navies, with other allies including South Korea, Japan, Egypt, Greece deploying the system on board vessels that include aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and littoral combat ships.

Asia Pacific

• The US State Department has cleared the possible sale of one C-17 transport aircraft to India. Valued at an estimated $366 million, the package also includes 4 Turbofan F-117-PW-100 engines, a missile warning system, a countermeasures dispensing system and an identification friend or foe transponder. Offsets usually requested by New Delhi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative will be negotiated between both India and lead contractor Boeing.

• A possible $1.3 billion deal has also been cleared by the US State Department that could see up to five Gulfstream G550 aircraft with Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems delivered to Australia. The sale will support ongoing efforts by Australia to modernize its Electronic Warfare capability and increases interoperability between the US Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). L-3 Technologies will act as lead contractor on the sale.

Today’s Video

• Raytheon tests high energy laser from Apache:

RN CVF Concept
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Britain’s 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) announced a big leap forward for the Royal Navy: plans to replace the current set of 3 Invincible Class 22,000t escort carriers with 2 larger, more capable Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) ships that could operate a more powerful force. These new carriers would be joint-service platforms, operating F-35B aircraft, plus helicopters and UAVs from all 3 services. Roles could include ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), force projection and logistics support, close air support, anti-submarine/ anti-surface naval warfare, and land attack.

The scale of the CVF effort relative to Britain’s past experiences means that the program structure is rather complex. It has passed through several stages already, and is being run and conducted within an industrial alliance framework. There is also a parallel international framework, involving cooperation with France on its PA2 carrier as a derivative of the CVF design. This DID FOCUS article covers that structure and framework, ongoing developments, and the ships themselves as they move slowly through construction, and eventual fielding.

Salve, Regina: The Queen Elizabeth Class

CVF, De Gaulle, Invincible
(click to add Nimitz)

The winning ACA “Design Delta” was fitted with a ski-jump to operate short take off and vertical landing aircraft like the F-35B STOVL Joint Strike Fighter. The design is being touted as able to accommodate catapults and arrester gear to fly conventional carrier aircraft, but by 2012 it became clear that the cost would be nearly GBP 2 billion for just 1 carrier conversion. The ski jumps were retained.

Once the new ships of the Queen Elizabeth Class are complete, Britain will possess a full-size carrier for the first time in several decades. These CVFs are slightly larger than the USA’s 50,000t America Class escort carriers, and France’s 43,000 tonne nuclear CVN Charles de Gaulle Class, and 3 times larger than the UK’s previous 22,000 tonne CVS Invincible Class. The CVF designs may not compare to the USA’s 90-100,000 tonne Nimitz Class and CVN-21 Class supercarriers, but fielding them will restore options and capabilities that the Royal Navy hasn’t had in decades.

BAE Concept – lost
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When fielded, the CVF design will be the largest ships in the world to use electric rather than mechanical propulsion drives. In addition to serving combat ships’ ever-hungrier electrical needs, and providing efficiency benefits, this all-electric approach improves survivability by decoupling placement of the turbines and generators from the propellers’ mechanical drive.

There is some irony in this choice of gas propulsion over nuclear power. The last ship named HMS Queen Elizabeth was one of the triggers for the British government’s 1914 acquisition of a controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. That interest, in turn, served a a key catalyst to develop the Middle East’s oil and gas reserves.

Thales Concept, 2003
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True to the Royal Navy’s recent history, the new carriers will be launched with vestigial self-defense capabilities, and upgraded later. BAE’s Artisan 3D radar will provide short to medium-range 3-D air surveillance out to 200 km, surface gun fire support tracking, air traffic control, and secondary navigation/surface surveillance. Its sensitivity reportedly extends to Mach 3 objects with tennis-balls size radar cross-sections. Thales’ S1850M D-band radar, which also equips Britain’s Type 45 anti-air destroyers and Franco-Italian Horizon Class anti-air frigates, will provide long-range air surveillance and volume search.

The Future Air Wing

F-35B Lightning II
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The new carriers will have 2 core components in the air wing, and 2 important ancillaries.

F-35B fighters. The class will embark 12 – 36 of the new F-35B Lightning II Short Take Off, Vertical Landing fighters, depending on the fleet’s given mission. A full fighter complement would be 36, plus 4 AEW helicopters.

The F-35B STOVL was re-instated after a short-lived switch to the F-35C carrier variant in 2010 – 2012, sacrificing range, maneuvering limits, and internal payload. In exchange, the supersonic jets will be able to take off without catapults, and land without arresting wires. Britain’s F-35Bs will differ slightly from the USMC’s, with extra software to allow low-speed Ship-borne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) if a loaded plane is trying to land on a hot day. Those conditions sap lift, and the plane is too close to its weight limits to return with stores and significant fuel in a straight vertical drop. Britain’s carriers will also have corresponding modifications for those contingencies, including markings on their decks, and lighting set up to guide the pilots whether they land vertically or using SRVL.

Initial F-35B Block 3 load-outs will be limited, involving 2 AIM-132 ASRAAM or AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, and 2 Paveway-IV laser/GPS guided 500 pound bombs. British additions will eventually include up to 6 of MBDA’s Spear 3s, an adaptation of the Brimstone light strike missile with a 75 km strike range. The Ministry told a Parliamentary committee on May 20/13 that they also expected to deploy the long-range MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile from inside the F-35B’s weapon bay, but that weapon doesn’t have a scheduled integration date yet. Given current F-35 program schedules out to Block 4, the RAF is unlikely to see Meteor in F-35s before the mid 2020s.

The ships were also slated to operate some Harrier GR9 V/STOL (Vertical or Short Take-Off and Landing) fighters from their decks until about 2018, due to the F-35B’s expected lateness. Instead, the 2010 SDSR retired the British Harrier force almost immediately, while delaying the new carriers’ in-service date.

Mk.7 ASaC
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AW101 AEW Helicopters. These AW101 Merlin Mk2 derivatives will scan the air to provide wide-area surveillance against enemy aircraft and missiles, and are critical to the carrier group’s survivability in medium high-threat situations. A carrier will typically embark 4 machines from the 8-machine fleet, leaving the rest for training and maintenance rotations. Existing British machines will be used, essentially removing them from their current roles; specifications do call for a 24 hour role change, but their Sea King predecessors have proven so valuable in naval and overland roles that reversion is unlikely. Costs are expected to range between GBP 230 – 500 million for system integration and manufacture.

Crowsnest?
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The “Crowsnest” program will replace the Royal Navy’s 13 Sea King Mk7 ASaC helicopters, which will all retire by 2016, leaving a gap of about 6-7 years before coverage is restored. Crowsnest’s Assessment Phase 3 is in 2014, with a planned main gate approval in 2017. By 2020, the Royal Navy expects to have modified 4 helicopters, with radar trials beginning and 2 helicopters available for emergency deployment. Full Operational Capability and carrier deployment isn’t expected until late 2022 or 2023.

Lockheed Martin and Thales will compete as Mission System providers, but there are 4 radar types under consideration. One is the same Thales Searchwater 2000 radar/ ASaC as the Sea King, mounted on a rail system with the same inflatable Kevlar dome. The 2nd is Northrop Grumman’s Vigilance pod, carrying a modified version of the F-35’s APG-81. Option #3 will be from IAI Elta, whose Phalcon AEW system is in service on a number of platforms. Option #4 will come from Finmeccanica’s Selex ES. Italian carriers also use an AW101 AEW helicopter, with a Selex Heliborne Early Warning 748 surveillance radar mounted in an enlarged under-fuselage radome.

Apache, ahoy!
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Other Helicopters. Beyond the F-35Bs and AEW helicopters, the Queen Elizabeth Class will be able to deploy regular helicopters as required for missions, by trading embarked F-35Bs for helicopter space. Normal mission load outs are expected to include around 6 AW101 Merlin helicopters, which will handle transport and/or anti-submarine roles. They will actually be the 1st aircraft qualified on the new carriers.

Beyond the Merlins, Britain has already operated a number of different helicopter types from its previous carriers, including WAH-64D/ AH Mk.1 Apache attack helicopters which were used over Libya. The Royal Navy also cites Britain’s huge twin-rotor Chinook helicopters as an option, and AW159 Wildcats will be serving with the Army and Navy by the time the carrier is in service. The ship’s loadout could easily add a range of types.

UAVs. Britain doesn’t currently have a requirement for carrier-launched UAVs, but the requirement can be expected to arise early in the carriers’ service, and a 2013 speech by the First Sea Lord explicitly raised this possibility. If and when Britain moves in this direction, the USA’s ongoing experiments integrating advanced UAVs like the X-47B into their carrier operations will be helpful. The difference is that Britain won’t be able to use UCAVs that depend on catapults and arrester wires for launch and recovery.

The CVF Carrier Program

HMS Ark Royal
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The original design competition for the CVF was won by Thales Group UK in January 2003, with delivery intended for 2014 and 2016. By the time the 2010 SDSR was published, however, it became clear that this renewed and improved carrier capability would only be delivered around 2021. The SDSR also planned to mothball the Queen Elizabeth immediately, while converting Prince of Wales for catapults and arresting gear.

The Navy still plans to mothball 1 carrier, but the 2 ships will remain identical, foregoing “cats and traps” after studies showed that the single-ship conversion cost would be close to GBP 2 billion. A decision on whether to activate both ships, or to retain the 2nd ship in ready reserve unless the 1st is out of service, will be made in the 2015 SDSR.

Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for Britain’s new aircraft carrier is now expected in 2020. That capability includes the ship built and tested, with F-35B fighters qualified, AW101 Merlin Mk.2 helicopters qualified, and an emergency AW101 AEW capability of 2 untested helicopters. Further delays to the ship or to the F-35B could push that IOC date back.

Full Operational Capability, with a fully-functional AEW contingent, and all aspects of the ship ready for deployment to high-threat areas, isn’t expected until 2022.

Meanwhile, events since 2011 have left Britain with no fixed-wing aircraft carrier capability. HMS Ark Royal was decommissioned early in March 2011, and then scrapped. The Fleet Air Arm’s Harrier IIs were retired early, and then sold to the USMC in November 2011. Only HMS Illustrious remains. She will serve in the role of helicopter carrier until 2014, whereupon the flat-deck helicopter carrier HMS Ocean is scheduled to re-emerge from maintenance, and Britain’s last carrier is scheduled to retire.

Program Team: The Aircraft Carrier Alliance

Assembly required
click for video

The original design competition for the CVF was won by Thales Group UK in January 2003, but Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that BAE Systems would operate as prime contractor. These two companies formed the “Aircraft Carrier Alliance” (ACA), along with the UK Ministry of Defence. Formal agreement of the alliance principles took until Spring 2004. Thales UK will be responsible for system design of the platform, power and propulsion; they will also lead the team responsible for ensuring the ship’s readiness to operate aircraft.

In February 2005 Halliburton subsidiary KBR UK Ltd was selected as the “physical integrator” to manage the overall project. Britain’s ACA membership expanded again in December 2005 to include naval architects FBM Babcock Marine, and shipbuilders and ship support specialists VT Group, plc (since bought by BAE), even as the ACA’s “Delta” design was formally announced as the baseline by the Ministry of Defence.

That’s the British corporate alliance. At the same time, a Power and Propulsion Sub-Alliance has been put in place, to handle all elements of the ship’s generating, electrical, and mechanical propulsion and stabilization systems. It comprises Thales UK (ACA representative), plus Rolls Royce (MT30 engines), GE (was Converteam: induction motors) and L3 Communications.

International Team: Et Vous, France?

PA2 Concept
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On the international level, there’s a co-operation agreement in place with France, whereby France’s larger PA2 carrier would have been based on the CVF design, to be executed by DCN-Thales. The two countries made a number of compromises in the final CVF base design, as well as some modifications to France’s larger 74,000t design. Under the agreement, France agreed to pay one third of the demonstration phase costs of the common base line design, in addition to staged payments of GBP 100 million in recognition of the investment the UK has already made.

In the end, France decided that it couldn’t afford to build and equip a new carrier, and PA2 was terminated in 2012. That shift may have played a role in Britain’s 2012 decision to have 2 identical British carriers available for use, ensuring 100% carrier availability rather than 65%.

On To Production

How it’s built
click for video

Design work on the Queen Elizabeth Class is centered in Bristol, England and in 2 new design offices in Portsmouth, England and Glasgow, Scotland. As of August 2010, 6 shipyards across the UK were involved: Govan and Rosyth in Scotland, Portsmouth and Devonport in the south, and Newcastle and Birkenhead in the north.

Construction of British CVF carriers will be carried out in sections, and then the sections will be fitted together. Construction and assembly of the ships in yards owned by members of the new expanded Alliance, though BAE’s November 2009 buyout of its partner VT group has shifted ownership of several yards along the way. Present arrangements include:

Early CVF Workshare
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Final Assembly: BAE Shipbuilding’s Rosyth facility in Scotland, where they have invested in a new “Goliath” crane with 1,000t lift capacity.

Lower Block 1 (bow): Babcock’s Appledore and Rosyth facilities. Under a revised build strategy agreed in 2006, Babcock Appledore on Britain’s SW coast was given LB01, and also CB05/6.

Lower block 2: BAES Portsmouth facility.

Lower blocks 3 and 4 (stern): BAES Govan, on the Clyde near Glasgow. Block 3 used to be slated for the BAES Barrow facility, but submarine work was keeping that facility too busy. Barrow will continue to provide engineering support, as needed.

Lower Block 5 (stern): BAES Portsmouth.

Center Blocks: Cammell Laird is building CB02 and CB04. CB03 is being built by A&P Tyne. Babcock Marine in Appledore is building CB05 and CB 06.

Sponsons (the overhanging upper hull structure): Babcock Marine in Appledore. Babcock is also conducting CAD-based modelling, design and development work.

The 2 superstructure Islands: BAES Portsmouth now builds the rear island UB14, and BAES Govan was made responsible for UB07.

It was expected that substantial elements of the ship structure would be competed, and sub-contracting competition within the ‘superstructure blocks’ would be maximized. The above distribution is based on changes reflected in April 2012 ACA data, which is shown below along with installation schedules, key locations, and shipping routes:

CVF Workshare and Geography, 2012

 

See full-size graphic, 771k.

The CVF Program: Contracts and Key Events 2014 – 2016

NAO Report; Carrier to enter service without AEW; HMS Queen Elizabeth.

CVF ops concept
click for video

June 28/17: The UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has began sea trials after leaving BAE’s shipyard in Scotland on Monday. During the six week trial, crew will test the vessel’s speed, maneuverability, power and propulsion, and weaponry before returning to its shipyard Rosyth for further testing and maintenance and then return to sea to test mission systems. She will later transfer to Portsmouth Naval Base to be handed over to the Royal Navy later this year.

May 18/17: The British Royal Navy operated HMS Queen Elizabeth will receive its first F-35B aircraft next year, with the new aircraft carrier also receiving Merlin, Apache, Wildcat and Chinook helicopters. Royal Navy sailors have also trained alongside their US Navy counterparts on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, with British personnel fully embedded in the USS Wasp trials and will use the data gathered from this event for future trials and operational deployments to support the UK’s flying trials aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018. British F-35 pilots also recently embarked on the USS America for at-sea developmental testing phase 3 (known as DT), the last trial that paves the way for the US Marine Corps to deploy the jet operationally on amphibious assault ships.

January 7/15: UK Defence procurement minister Philip Dunne has said that the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers will hold more marines than ever before. The Queen Elizabeth class carriers will house 900 marines and navy personnel, an increase of 210 on the HMS Ocean. The Ocean will be decommissioned in 2018 and replaced with the new HMS Queen Elizabeth, and will be joined by her son, the HMS Prince of Wales, in 2020. The construction of the two vessels is reported to have cost $9.06 billion and they will be the largest warships in the Royal Navy.

October 20/15: The Royal Navy’s future Queen Elizabeth-class carrier looks set to feature unmanned boats, with BAE Systems and ASV demonstrating an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) boat near Portsmouth Naval Base. The system is purportedly capable of allowing the boats to operate for up to twelve hours at a time in a reconnaissance and surveillance capacity. The technology – designed to be retrofitted onto Pacific 24 Rigid Inflatable Boats – could also equip manned RIBs deployed on Type 23 Frigates and Type 45 destroyers.

October 9/15: The Royal Navy’s new carrier the HMS Queen Elizabeth has been fitted with the 3D ARTISAN (Advanced Radar Target Indication Situational Awareness and Navigation) radar system, capable of providing air surveillance out to 200km. Manufactured by BAE Systems, the radar – also referred to as the Type 997 – will also equip the Royal Navy’s future Type 26 Global Combat Ships, as well as retrofitted Type 23 Duke-class frigates. Integration trials began in September 2013, after successful tracking trials in July 2010. The radar was developed by BAE Systems through a $195 million contract in August 2008.

June 29/15: The Royal Navy’s future carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, saw its propulsion system powered up for the first time at the back-end of last week. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Marine 36MW MT30 gas turbine alternators and four diesel engines, the total power reaches approximately 110 megawatts. The carrier will be equipped with F-35B fighters, with a joint US-UK team testing the jet on a replica of the Elizabeth-class carrier’s ski-jump last week.

Nov 3/14: F-35 integration. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, TX receives a $50 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification, to provide “operational and engineering support required to integrate the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter operations with the Queen Elizabeth Class carrier…” $10.8 million in UK dollars are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Samlesbury, UK (64%); Fort Worth, TX (26%); and Orlando, FL (10%), and is expected to be complete in December 2017. US Navy NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD manages this FMS contract as Britain’s agent (N00019-02-C-3002).

Sept 10/14: AEW. Thales is readying its upgraded Searchwater 2000 radar for installation on the future AW101 “Crowsnest” Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) helicopters. Updating the radar, control console, software, and mission system to “drive out obsolescence” has the side effect of greatly expanding the radar’s back-end processing power, and they’re trying to update to corresponding software and mission system to take full advantage. The remaining uncertainty involves whether to keep the existing inflatable radar dome design, or switch to a solid pod with a different mounting – like Team Lockheed’s competing Vigilance system.

Thales says that their upgraded system manages to exceed competition standards in several areas, and they hope to fly the test airframe they’re integrating at Yeovil by mid-November 2014. They also believe that they’ll need less than the allotted 30 flight hours to prove out their solution, and that the ability to simply modify existing ASaC systems means they could deliver this solution well before 2018. If so, HMS Queen Elizabeth could begin service with an AEW system that’s tested to initial or even full operational capability, instead of having to wait until 2022 for FOC (q.v. Feb 3/14). It remains to be seen whether the Vigilance team will offer the same thing when Crowsnest program bids come in by the end of January 2015. A decision is expected by early spring 2015. Sources: Flight Global, “Thales nears flight tests for Royal Navy Crowsnest bid”.

July 4/14: #1 naming. HMS Queen Elizabeth is formally named by Queen Elisabeth, on American Independence Day. Instead of champagne, however, the ceremony breaks a bottle of Islay single-malt whiskey across the ship’s bow. Construction is still underway, even though the ship has been floated out of dock. Sea trials won’t get underway until 2017, and flight trials with F-35Bs won’t begin until 2018. Prince of Wales will follow, but to what end? At the ceremony, Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond says that the UK will be considering capability, cost, and trade-off issues when assessing whether to bring both of its new aircraft carriers into service, instead of mothballing one. With that said, he added that:

“I believe that we will find that … the relatively small amount that it will cost us annually to operate the two carriers will be a very good use of defence budget money, but that is a decision for the SDSR 2015.”

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas continued to push for both at the ceremony, describing the difference as “…not just twice the [capability]… a completely changed capability, because we would always have one carrier available to go to sea at any given time.”

Sharp-eyed readers will note the different name spellings – the ship is named after the current monarch’s predecessor, whose forces beat the Spanish Armada. Sources: UK MoD, “HMS Queen Elizabeth is named” | BBC, “HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier naming ceremony” | IHS Jane’s, “UK defence secretary outlines considerations in the case for a second carrier”.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Feb 13/14: NAO Report. Britain’s National Audit Office releases their 2013 Major Projects Report. For starters, the CVF program is responsible for 106% of major program cost growth last year, based on the revised costs of the new deal:

“Today’s report shows that, in the last year, there was a net increase in costs of £708 million in respect of the 11 projects included in the review. The main contribution to this was a £754 million increase in the cost of carriers. This increase was due to a number of factors including delay to the schedule, immaturity of the design, underestimation of the cost of labour and materials and the Department’s decision in 2012 to revert back to the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, the latter adding £120 million. In addition to the £754 million, the Department estimates that the write-off from this decision will be £55 million.”

That GBP 55 million write-off isn’t part of the GBP 754 million cost increase, and is actually a drop from the original GBP 77 million estimate. Overall, the program has spent GBP 3.321 billion so far – almost the original approved budget of GBP 3.541 billion, but just 54.4% of the current GBP 6.102 billion projection.

Looking through the big hits to this budget, we find a 2009 Financial Planning Round decision (674 million), cost savings predicted but never realized (543 million), inflation in various forms (350 million), cost of stretching the build schedule (261 million), and over 17,000 change requests as the design matured (150 million).

From a timeline perspective, Initial Operating Capability (IOC) with basic ship safety has shifted from April – October 2017. Tier 2 with basic warfighting capability is now predicted for December 2017. The main risks at the moment seem to involve external items, such as the ship’s F-35B and AW101 AEW aircraft, the cost and schedule risk of providing 2 fully serviced Portsmouth berths and associated infrastructure, and the design and readiness of an in-service support solution. Work on designing that support solution is expected to begin in Q1 2014.

Feb 3/14: AEW. The UK MoD announces that savings from renegotiating the main carrier contract (q.v. Nov 6/13) are being channeled to accelerate the Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control program to ensure that it’s operational by 2019. Defence Secretary Hammond says this is being done “so that we will have the full operating capability available when the aircraft carriers go into service.” As part of this move, Merlin mission system integrator Lockheed Martin is receiving “a UK 24 million contract to run a competition to design, develop and demonstrate Crowsnest.” It’s actually a continuation of previous work, and the UK will pick a radar system from either Thales/AgustaWestland or Lockheed/ Northrop Grumman (q.v. July 24-30/13).

The Sea King Mk.7 ASaCs are retiring in 2016, along with all other Royal Navy Sea Kings. “Crowsnest” isn’t even slated for a Main Gate spending decision until 2017, with initial deliveries for testing in 2019. The planned date for CVF Initial Operational Capability was 2020, but its pair of Crowsnest AEW helicopters would be an emergency deployment that wasn’t fully untested. Full Operational Capability, with a fully-functional AEW contingent, and all aspects of the ship ready for deployment to high-threat areas, wasn’t expected until 2022. The MoD has conveniently avoided any kind of revised schedule in its announcement, so it’s difficult to tell whether this simply means that the 2020 carrier IOC will include AEW helicopters with more testing under their belts, or whether he’s promising FOC for the carrier as a whole by 2020. This issue has been a source of concern for Parliament’s Defence Committee (q.v. Sept 19/12, Sept 3/13), who can be expected to pry further into the details. Sources: Hansard, Feb 3/14 | UK MoD, “New surveillance system for Royal Navy aircraft carriers”.

2013

CVF “adaptability” was a GBP 100M mirage; Government considering 2 operational carriers; BAE looking to renegotiate the contract.

CVF cutaway
(click to view full)

Nov 11/13: #1. The fitting of the 130t ski ramp is the final stage in Queen Elizabeth’s construction. Sources: Royal Navy, “Queen Elizabeth closes ‘a pivotal chapter’ with construction of her hull completed ” | Afloat, “UK’s Biggest Jigsaw Finally Completed: Aircraft-Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth”.

Nov 6/13: Sea Change. BAE and the UK government agree on a big restructuring of military shipbuilding. The new agreement will replace the Terms of Business Agreement (ToBA) that restructured the sector (q.v. May 20/08, Oct 29/09), as a condition of the carrier contracts. This is just an agreement in principle, so far, but its outlines included:

• Changes to the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier contract that “accommodate programme changes and activities previously excluded from the contract,” and move risk share to a 50/50 arrangement beyond the GBP 6.2 billion target cost, up to a loss of all BAE profits.

• The original agreement had made BAE responsible for financing slack shipbuilding periods, but that would hardly be fair if government delays to the Type 26 are the reason why. Rather than paying termination and industrial costs to keep the shipyard idle, the UK government is ordering 3 Ocean Class OPV vessels, for delivery by 2017. The River Class OPVs HMS Tyne, Severn and Mersey will probably be retired at the same time. The difference between the 2 classes? The larger Ocean Class adds a flight deck that can handle AW101 Merlin helicopters.

• Finally, the Ministry will chip in to pay for extra costs involved in shrinking the shipbuilding sector by 1,775 people and 1 shipbuilding facility. BAE determined that Glasgow, Scotland is the best place to invest in shipbuilding capacity. That’s a chancy business giving Scotland’s independence referendum, but the plan is to invest in Glasgow facilities, and shift Portsmouth to a naval and combat systems service & development center before the end of 2014. That will cost 940 jobs in Portsmouth, but the government is also investing GBP 100 million there to base the 2 carriers. Glasgow shipyards will take over Prince of Wales’ Lower Block 05 and Upper Blocks 07 and 14; and they will also build the Type 26 frigates. There will still be a reduction of 835 people across Glasgow, Filton, and Rosyth.

Sources: BAE Systems, “UK Naval sector restructuring” | Royal Navy, “New ships for Royal Navy secure UK shipbuilding skills”.

Major shipbuilding restructuring

Nov 4/13: Costs. British media report that negotiations on a revised carrier contract are at an advanced stage, but not done. Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is expected to announce a GBP 800 million cost hike, pushing total costs to around GBP 6.2 billion. They were originally forecast at GBP 3.5 billion when the program began in 2007.

The new contract reportedly aims to split any cost increases beyond $6.2 billion 50/50 between the government and BAE. Sources: British Forces News, “Costs for carriers ‘to top £6 billion'” | The Telegraph, “Carrier cost ‘could rise even higher than £6.2 billion'”.

Costs to GBP 6.2+ billion

Oct 10/13: BAE tells investors that it’s negotiating with the UK Government over “potential amendments” to the aircraft carrier contracts. The government is reportedly trying to force BAE to take more responsibility for any further cost increases, in a project that has risen from GBP 3.6 billion to GBP 5.3 billion. With construction at such an advanced stage, that isn’t an unreasonable request, but what if the government wants further design changes? How much is already paid for within the supply chain, and how much can realistically be changed? Answering those questions, and negotiating answers, takes time.

BAE is also reportedly expressing concerns about the sharp dropoff of work at Portsmouth, Govan and Scotstoun when the carrier project ends. Britain’s Defence Industrial Plans had hoped to ensure steady work, but the actual rhythm of programs and orders hasn’t kept pace, and it will at least 2016 before Type 26 frigate production starts up. Sources: BAE Systems Oct 10/13: “Interim Management Statement for period from 1 July 2013 to 9 October 2013” | Bloomberg, “BAE Systems Renegotiating U.K. Aircraft Carrier Contract Terms” | Daily Mail, “US shutdown and Saudi contract wrangles threaten BAE”.

Oct 2/13: Let’s play 2! British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond tells a Conservative Party meeting that he’ll recommend keeping both carriers in service, but for that to mean anything, his party would have to win the next election. Technically, they could conduct the 2015 SDSR before the mandatory May 2015 election, but that would mean nothing if they lost. What he does say, is this:

“I think having put the money we have into building the carriers, for the sake of about GBP 70 million per year being able to operate the second carrier looks like a snip. But it does mean we have to stop doing something else. If we spend an extra GBP 70 million a year to be able to operate 2 carriers, which gives us a guaranteed one permanently available to go to sea, if we do that we will have to stop doing something else. All these things are about choices and priorities….”

Sources: BFBS British Forces News, “Hammond: ‘Second UK carrier worth using'”

Sept 10/13: Innovation. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas delivers a speech to industry at Britain’s DSEI 2013 exhibition. The CVF program features prominently, both as a window into the Navy’s view of the program, and his challenges re: next steps. Some excerpts – see Additional Readings for the full speech link:

“And – last but certainly by no means least – we await expectantly the rebirth of the United Kingdom’s carrier capability. We look forward to the launch event for HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH next summer, which will be a real moment of national awakening. Why? Because she will be the first of two ‘big deck’ aircraft carriers capable of delivering a full spectrum of diplomatic, political and military options. Instruments of national power – symbols of national authority on the world stage – national icons. The Navy ‘back in business’.

Apache helicopters operate successfully from HMS Ocean off the Libyan coast back in 2011. An obvious blueprint for the future. Aboard Queen Elizabeth, they will be tiny. Unless, of course, a couple of squadrons embark. And why not? I challenge the Army to think that way. And these platforms are universal adaptors. Because our international partners can plug in as well. An obvious example would be the US Marine Corps operating their Joint Strike Fighters off our new carriers…. In July we saw pictures in the press of the first unmanned aircraft landing on a US aircraft carrier, USS George HW Bush, off the coast of Virginia. I am sometimes asked whether the absence of cats and traps precludes such options for us? I really think not, and I challenge industry to find ways to offer the Royal Navy better options from the Queen Elizabeth Class in the near future.”

Sept 10/13: Sensors. BAE’s Artisan 3D radar has begun integration trials at BAE’s old Somerton Aerodrome facility. Those trials involve providing tracks and radar video to initial versions of the QEC combat management system, while working with the QEC IFF system.

The Type 997 Artisan 3D radar will equip the new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, as well as retrofitted Type 23 Duke Class frigates and the new Type 26 frigates. On the carriers, it will be used for air surveillance, target identification, and even air traffic control. Detection range is reportedly up to 200 km, and it’s designed to track more than 900 targets at once. Sensitivity is reportedly in the range of tennis-ball sized objects traveling at up to Mach 3, which sounds odd until you remember than stealthy missiles may have a radar cross section that in that range. Source: BAE Systems release, Sept 10/13.

Sept 3/13: PAC Report. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee takes another look at the Carrier Strike program, including the AW101 Crowsnet AEW helicopter program. The core problem in the committee is that the members have now heard the Ministry say, several times, that they had a handle on things given their best information. Which then turned out not to be true. Their findings and recommendations mostly revolve around wanting correct information, and credible time and cost baselines. The tone can be inferred from these excerpts:

“The Department has a history of making poor decisions, based on inadequate information…. Carrier Strike remains a high risk programme…. Despite assurances from the Department, we are not convinced…. significant technical issues, costs and delivery dates for the aircraft are not resolved. There are also significant cost risks associated with in-service contracts for maintenance which have yet to be resolved…. We are also concerned that, according to current plans, the early warning radar system essential for protecting the carrier will not be available for operation until 2022, two years after the first carrier and aircraft are delivered and initially operated. And the MOD does not yet have the funding to replace the shipping needed to support the new carrier.

….Although the Department employs some 400 people on this programme, it may not have the right procurement skills to manage the risks in delivering Carrier Strike effectively…. We are concerned that the Department’s staff are wasting their time with bureaucracy and duplicated effort in having to make detailed checks on the operations of contractors, raising a question as to the quality of the contracting process.”

Sources: House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, “Carrier Strike: the 2012 reversion decision (HTML)”

July 24-30/13: AEW. As part of its GBP 750 million MSCP contract to upgrade the Royal Navy’s Merlin HM1 fleet, Lockheed Martin is overseeing an initial GBP 3 million investigation into “Crowsnest” AEW integration with its “Vigilance” mission suite. That contract was awarded in 2012, and the 18-month assessment phase has just begun. It should be done by the end of 2014.

Eventually, 10 helicopter will receive refits. Option 1 is a Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman radar pod (q.v. Nov 18/11, Feb 14/12) based on the SABR F-16 AESA radar. Option 2 is Thales / AgustaWestland’s ASaC proposal (q.v. July 4/10) that would just move the Sea Kings’ Searchwater 2000 equipment over to the AW101s, upgrade the radars, and install them in a retractable rear ramp housing. The Vigilance team is touting advanced technology and portability, the ASaC team focuses on low costs and fast turnaround. Sources: Flight Global, “Royal Navy works to add more capability to Merlin fleet” and “Thales cites affordability and speed for Crowsnest bid”.

July 24/13: AW101. The Royal Navy confirms 2 interesting things about its new carriers: the 1st qualified aircraft aboard, and the Merlin helicopter’s role beyond AEW. From “Royal Navy captures preview Of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s future role”:

“The two giant aircraft carriers will operate multiple aircraft, but the Merlin will be the first to be cleared for operational use, ahead of the F35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter…. Merlin helicopters will operate in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Airborne Early Warning (AEW) roles, as well as providing force protection and conducting other roles, including evacuating medical emergencies and the all-important collection of mail.”

May 20/13: Hearings. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee holds hearings related to carrier strike programs. Key witnesses include UK MoD Permanent Secretary Jon Thompson, Chief of Defence Materiel Bernard Gray, and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff Air Marshal Stephen Hillier, who is now overseeing the F-35 program. Key factual points inlcude:

• Contractors will still make a profit on carrier construction until costs hit GBP 7.74 billion – GBP 2.5 billion over the GBP 5.24 billion target cost. (That target is, in itself, significantly higher than the original GBP 3.x billion). The UK MoD is trying to renegotiate the contract to create more shared contractor risk, as an incentive to find savings. The contractors are less enthused.
  
• All parties agree that the GBP 500 – 800 million estimate for catapult/arrester carrier conversion was poor work, with key items like inflation, VAT tax (which applies to Foreign Military Sales from the USA), and other basic figures left out.
  
• They’re still trying to get a handle on the extra costs of their vacillation between the F-35C and F-35B; current estimates are down to GBP 74 million, but they won’t know until 2014.
  
• A modification to MBDA’s Meteor long-range air-to-air missile will allow it to fit in the F-35’s weapons bay.
  
• SRVL rolling F-35B landings will require unique deck markings, added F-35 aircraft software, and lighting on board ship.
  
• The Royal Navy will still mothball its 2nd carrier, with reconsideration planned for the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
  
• There are 399 MoD staff working on Carrier Strike, including the CVF, F-35, and Crowsnest programs: 250 are Military, 118 Civil Service and 31 Contractors.

Sources: House of Commons, “Oral Evidence Taken before the Committee of Public Accounts on Monday 20 May 2013.”

Feb 6/13: CV01. About 70 weeks after steel was first cut in Portsmouth, Queen Elizabeth’s 680t Forward Island and bridge set sail on a barge from the dock hall on HM Naval Base Portsmouth, all painted by specialists from Pyeroy, and ready for final assembly in Rosyth. BAE Systems.

Feb 5/13: Not Adaptable. The House of Commons Defence Committee says that Britain’s shift from the F-35B STOVL to the F-35C and back cost the country GBP 100 million. Most of that money was spent on budgets related to Britain’s new carriers, and the committee faults the government for rushed work on the October 2010 SDSR.

That is quite a lot of money to waste, and it’s true that after the Conservative/ Lib-Dem coalition took power, there was a strong push to get the SDSR out the door in a short period of time. These kinds of decisions are very complex, and the committee faults the Ministry for going along with this recommendation, without really understanding the changes involved.

The Ministry’s defense is that their CVF/ Queen Elizabeth Class carriers had been touted as “future proof”, able to include catapults if that became necessary during the ships’ lifetimes. That proposition was put to the test early, thanks to the F-35C switch. The Ministry’s retrospective conclusion is blunt, and discomfiting on its own terms:

“I think the fundamental misunderstanding that many of us had was that these carriers would be relatively easy to convert and had been designed for conversion and for adaptability. That is what we were told. It was not true. They were not. They were physically big enough to accommodate conversion, but it came at a higher price than was apparent at the time when the decision was taken… It is not my belief that they were genuinely designed for conversion, or that the contract allowed them to be designed for conversion.”

One wonders, then, why they were touted that way. UK Commons Defence Committee Acquisitions Report | Flight International.

Britain’s F-35 switching costs

Jan 25/13: Engines. Rolls-Royce announces that they’ve installed the 1st of 2 MT30 gas turbines into Queen Elizabeth.

The MT30s are derived from the Trent 800 that powers 777 planes. They’re installed as part of a Gas Turbine Alternator (GTA) which also includes an alternator and gas turbine enclosure, weighing 120t in total. Each turbine produces 36 MW/ 50,000 hp, and together they produce 66% of the carrier’s 109 MW maximum power. Diesels will produce the rest.

2012

GBP 1.8b for refit? No, thanks – back to F-35B; Flight deck redesign will also go for naught; Field both ships now?; AEW gap at initial fielding.

CVF sense of scale
(click to view full)

Dec 28/12: CVF01. Queen Elizabeth’s 30,000t forward section is skidded 17m backwards, to join up with the 11,000t hull section LB04. The bow section had already been lifted onto the ship Dec 13/12, and blocks CB04a/b were lifted Dec 17/12. At this point, most of the ship’s hull is in place. ACA Flickr | ACA Blog.

Oct 23/12: Infrastructure RFP. The Royal Navy is inviting bidders to pre-qualify for a GBP 60 million contract to add berthing spaces for the Queen Elizabeth Class. The project will include includes dredging the existing channel to make it deeper and wider, and adding a new electrical substation located near the refurbished jetty and docking space. Construction Enquirer.

Oct 16/12: CVF01. The 11,000-tonne Lower Block 04 (LB04) is rolled out of BAE’s Govan facility. It houses 2 main engine rooms, a hospital complex, a dentist, the galley, and accommodations including 242 berths. It was loaded onto a huge sea-going barge for its 5-day, 600-mile journey to Rosyth, where the carrier sections will be assembled.

LB04 is the carrier’s largest single piece, and Prime Minister Cameron takes the opportunity to show up for an “inspection” photo op. BAE | BBC | UK MoD.

Oct 2/12: Crewing. The first 8 sailors join Queen Elizabeth in Rosyth, led by Captain Simon Petitt. Royal Navy.

Sept 19/12: PDC Report. The Parliamentary Defence Committee publishes its report on Maritime Surveillance, which parenthetically includes Airborne Early Warning for the fleet.

Right now, Sea King Mk7 ASaC helicopters perform this role, but they will be taken out of service in 2016. The problem is that the Crowsnest project to field their replacement is in limbo while the Ministry tries to reconcile its future budget plans, and may not field anything before 2020 given plans for a “lengthy” project assessment phase. We aren’t quite sure why this requirement needs a lot of assessment time, but any delays beyond 2020 would put carrier fielding at risk. Meanwhile, there would be no successor to the Mk7s for use on overland or littoral surveillance missions. UK Parliament | Defense News.

Initial AEW gap looms

July 4/12: CVF 01. Assembly Cycle B has now officially begun, as massive Super Block 03 (SB03) has been moved 90 metres north to meet Lower Block 02 (LB02), which measures “only” 60m x 38m x 21m.

Assembly Cycle A saw the assembly of Super Block 03, comprising the mid-hull section (LB03) and 4 sections making up Centre Block 03 (CB03), plus associated sponsons. This finished in May 2012, and outfitting of the 9 major upper blocks integrated with LB03, including cabling, mechanical pipe systems, ventilation, and fittings and equipment, is scheduled to complete later in 2012.

During Assembly Cycle B, Babcock will integrate LB02 with Lower Block 01 (the forward sections from the keel up to the flight deck, including the bulbous bow), previously built by Babcock at its Appledore shipyard in Devon, and Super Block 03 (SB03) already assembled in the dock. Assembly Cycle B will continue until spring 2013.

Assembly Cycle C will then see assembly of the remaining blocks, including the stern sections and island structures, with the hull fully assembled by 2014. Babcock.

June 6/12: Back to 2? Portsmouth’s The News reports that the government is considering keeping both carriers in service, now that they’re the same configuration again.

” ‘Planning assumptions are that both carriers will now enter service,’ a defence source told The News… to be confirmed in the next defence review in 2015, is being welcomed by the navy as it will offer the UK a continuous, year-round carrier capability. It could also secure hundreds of jobs at BAE Systems in Portsmouth due to double the repair and maintenance work.”

May 24/12: Melting decks. After the Daily Mirror brings up the issue of F-35B exhaust and how it affects carrier decks, the UK MoD responds by saying that the extra cost of paint was seen as manageable, in comparison to full carrier modifications. It’s actually about more than just paint, as the deck coatings make a difference to carrier operations if they’re melted off.

The USA is developing a new deck coating to try and withstand the F-35B’s higher temperatures, compared to the Harrier’s less powerful 4-nozzle Pegasus engine. The MoD is at least correct that this change would be less expensive than an EMALS catapult fit, which carries technical risks of its own. Daily Mirror | UK MoD.

May 10/12: Back to F-35B. Britain’s government confirms long-standing rumors that it would abandon the F-35C and its associated catapult modifications to 1 carrier, returning to the ski-jump deck and F-35B STOVL variant. That will mean reversions and changes to the carriers’ evolved design and lighting, some of which were described in the Jan 25/12 entry. Aircraft are less affected. The UK had already ordered and paid for an F-35B test plane, before the switch to the F-35C. Those flights will now continue, and F-35B flight trials are scheduled to begin from a British carrier in 2018.

A DSTL report has explained some of the capabilities Britain would lose by abandoning the F-35C (vid. April 20/12 entry), but the government justifies their decision by saying that the F-35C’s improved capabilities would come at too steep a cost. Staying with the F-35C, they say, would delay Britain’s return to carrier capability from 2020 – 2023 or later, cost nearly GBP 2 billion to modify 1 of their 2 carriers, and leave the Royal Navy with no carrier capability if their converted ship needs maintenance. In contrast, the F-35B gives Britain the option of taking its 2nd CVF carrier out of strategic reserve, and using it during long refit or maintenance dockings for their primary ship.

The F-35C would also have offered compatibility with American and French nuclear-powered carriers, but the government sidestepped that by saying that the F-35B provides commonality with the US Marines and Italy. UK MoD.

Back to F-35B

April 20/12: F-35B vs. C. A UK DSTL document marked “Secret – UK eyes only” looks at the larger trade-offs between the F-35C and F-35B:

“The Daily Telegraph has seen a… document setting out secret contingency planning for future military operations… The highly-classified report shows that planners have grave doubts about the [F-35B’s] capabilities… the MoD will have to spend an extra £2.4 billion buying 136 aircraft compared with 97 [F-35Cs]… The reduced range means the jump jet can spend less time over its target than the conventional jet. For a target 300 nautical miles away from the aircraft carrier, the jump-jet can spend only 20 minutes over its target before turning back, compared with 80 minutes for the conventional jet.”

That GBP 2.4 billion compares well to the GBP 1.8 – 2 billion cost to add an electromagnetic catapult to a CVF ship. Daily Telegraph | Defense Update.

March 12/12: Conversion – GBP 1.8 billion? The Telegraph reports that:

“Estimates for adapting HMS Prince of Wales so that it can be used by the Joint Strike Fighter are understood have risen from £500 million to £1.8 billion.”

That may be an unaffordable price, and force a shift back to F-35B jets. Fortunately for Britain, the F-35B has been taken off of its program probation already. Unfortunately for Britain, the sale of its recently-upgraded Harrier force to the USMC, at a bargain-basement price, for use as spares, will look especially bad if there’s a switch back to a STOBAR carrier design. The government’s response will likely be to cite Harrier operating & maintenance costs as too high to sustain.

March 1/12: Conversion. Labour Party shadow defense minister Jim Murphy sends a letter to British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, asking if the government is considering abandoning the F-35C decision made in the October 2010 SDSR, and reverting to the F-35B. The letter telegraphs the growing pressure created by cost estimates of the carrier refit, as well as the costs of the F-35, which is now expected to exceed the GBP 57 million (about $90 million) budgeted per plane.

The UK MoD reiterates its commitment to a carrier strike force, and says they’re reviewing all programs before the 2012-13 budget is announced, around Easter. The Guardian | The Telegraph | Defense News.

Feb 22/12: UK Rafales? French DGA head Lauren Collet-Billon tells a press conference that the extent of carrier cooperation with Britain will depend on Britain’s final plans and choices. With respect to fighter jets, Defense Aerospace quotes him saying that the F-35:

“…is an ambitious program, and like all ambitious programs it faces a number of challenges… If one day we have to lend Rafale Ms to the Royal Navy, why not? Personally, I’d find that very pleasing.”

January 2012: CVF 02. British Commander-in-Chief Fleet Admiral George Zambellas officially cuts the first chunk of steel for Prince of Wales Lower Block 02, at BAE System’s facility in Portsmouth. Overall production on HMS Prince of Wales began in Glasgow in May 2011, however, when steel was cut on Lower Block 03 at BAE’s Govan yard.

Prtsmouth is also building Queen Elizabeth’s Lower Block 02, Lower Block 05 stern section, and forward island. BAE Systems.

Jan 25/12: Deck & lighting redesign. BAE Systems’ simulator at Warton, UK is being used to refine landing procedures for the proposed F-35C, and is helping to redesign the flight deck’s array of lighting systems, deck markings, and arrester gear. BAE’s simulator has been programmed to use the F-35 and the CVF layout, but the pilots are US Navy F-18 pilots.

ACA’s Pete Symonds says that the flight deck is being redesigned, and the new design has reached “level 2 maturity.” It will use the American landing light system as its base, but must move other gear for a “land and stop” sequence instead of the F-35B’s “stop and land”. Meanwhile, the JCA Team’s Wing Commander Willy Hackett is focused on the GPS-aided JPALS landing system, combined with new symbology in the helmet-mounted display. UK MoD.

2011

Parliamentary report; Babcock’s highly mechanized weapons handling system (HMWHS); ECDIS picked; QE Lower Block 03 moved; FS De Gaulle into maintenance.

Take me to the river…
(click to view full)

Nov 29/11: PAC report. Britain’s House of Commons Public Accounts Committee publishes its 56th report of Session 2010-12, “Providing the UK’s Carrier Strike Capability,” on the basis of evidence from the Ministry of Defence. The committee notes that costs have increased since inception from GBP 3.65 billion to receive 2 carriers in 2016 and 2018, flying F-35B STOVL fighters, with all-year availability of carrier assets. They now sit at over GBP 6 billion, for 1 operational carrier, flying heavier F-35C fighters, but with no carrier capability until 2020, and reduced availability. Some excerpts from the statement and report:

“The decision was taken on proper policy grounds, not on the basis that the UK was locked into contracts which would have cost more to break than to maintain… So far the Aircraft Carrier Alliance has delivered 98 per cent of the work originally planned and the project achieved 48 of the 53 target milestones in 2010-11 on time. In cost terms, the project is currently forecast by the Alliance to cost [GBP] 5.461 billion, [GBP] 219 million higher than the contracted Targeted Cost, with a planning trajectory to meet the Target Cost.[21]… The cost of up to [GBP] 1.2 billion for conversion of the operational carrier remains an estimate and the Department does not expect to have a better understanding of costs for 18 months… the Department is exposed to the price the US Navy will pay for their [EMALS] systems.[28] Furthermore whilst the USA is building a system with four catapults the UK requires a system with only two catapults… The conversion of the carriers to using catapults and arrestor gear will push back the in-service date by two years to 2020 and sortie rates will not reach the maximum full operating capability until 2031.[31] When the carrier is introduced it will be able to operate at sea for only 150 to 200 days a year, compared with the original plan to provide carrier capability for 435 days a year using two carriers.”

On the procurement end, the committee adds that:

“There is no one person responsible for delivering the Carrier Strike project below the Accounting Officer. The Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) has a co-ordinating role, rather than real budgetary and implementation authority. This Committee has consistently identified the Department’s weak SRO role as a systemic problem.”

The committee is chaired by opposition MP Lady Margaret Hodge [Lab. – Barking]. PAC release | Full PAC Report | Wales Online.

Nov 1/11: Fire. A piece of welding equipment catches fire in a compartment on Deck 8 of what seems to have been Lower Block 03, forcing about 40 firefighters to show up. Fife Constabulary said no-one was injured in the fire, which was traced to an extractor fan, and appears to have been just a minor incident. BBC | Daily Record | Dumferline Press | Fife Today | UKPA.

July 29/11: CVF 01. BAE Systems moves the 8,000t Lower Block 03 mid section of HMS Queen Elizabeth out the company’s shipbuilding hall at Govan. The block is then loaded onto 1 of the 2 biggest sea-going barges in the world in preparation for her 600 mile journey to Rosyth, where the aircraft carrier will be assembled. ACA.

July 18/11: DeGaulle gone. France withdraws FS Charles de Gaulle from Libyan operations, as the ship prepares for maintenance in the fall. Once it enters maintenance, neither Britain nor France will have an operational aircraft carrier. Despite pledges of cooperation in this area, in order to offset the absence of CVF carriers (vid. Nov 2/10), they may need to get used to this. The French carrier will be undergoing a full reactor refueling around 2015, which will remove her from service for well over a year. Reuters.

May 26/11: CVF 02. Ceremonial 1st steel cutting for Prince of Wales, the 2nd CVF carrier, at BAE’s Glasgow shipyard. UK MoD | ACA.

Prince of Wales begins.

April 28/11: GBP 7 billion? A BBC report states that:

“The firms building the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers say the cost has risen by at least £1bn and possibly almost £2bn, the BBC has learned. This could push the final cost of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales to about £7bn – from the agreed £5.2bn.”

A corresponding blog post points out that even GBP 5.2 billion for the 2 ships is up from the GBP 3.9 billion budget announced when the contract was signed in July 2008, and says that the Ministry believes the project can be brought in for GBP 6 billion if just one carrier is modified with catapults. Other analysts, and the shipbuilders themselves, seem to be less sanguine. In response to the BBC report, the UK MoD would only say that:

“Final costs are yet to be agreed and detailed work is ongoing. We expect to take firm decisions in late 2012.”

March 29/11: Sub-contracts. BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies Ltd. issues a contract to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine to build, install, and test Integrated Navigation Bridge Systems (INBS) with an electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS-N). Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine has already completed the initial design phase of the contract, including change requests, and is currently designing a Navigation Lights, Shapes and Sounds (NLSS) under an option in the production contract. Deliveries are scheduled to be complete in 2018, and Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

The Queen Elizabeth Class’ INBS/ ECDIS-N (UK) system is based on Sperry Marine’s VisionMaster FT offering, and the multi-function workstations will include navigation planning, electronic charts, and radar displays, as well as a comprehensive set of software, and tie-ins to the carriers’ sensors. The system fully meets UK MoD specifications, NATO standards STANAG 7170 and STANAG 4564, and International Electrotechnical Commission standards IEC 62288 and IEC 61174. Northrop Grumman.

Feb 13/11: CVF 01. BAE Systems’ Govan yard near Glasgow moves 2 giant sections of the Queen Elizabeth’s hull together for the first time. A team of 20 employees moved the 1,221 tonne block over 100 meters in just 1 hour, to line up with the rest of the block and form Lower Block 03 (mid section of the hull up to the hangar deck). Workers will now continue to outfit the block, which on completion will weigh over 9,300 tonnes and stand over 23 metres tall, 63 metres long and 40 metres wide. The structure is already so big that it fills an entire hall at Govan and now extends beyond the doors onto the yard.

Lower Block 03 will be shipped to Rosyth in the latter part of 2011, and work also continues at other yards. BAE Systems is building the largest and most complex section (main stern) at Rosyth on the Clyde, and work is well underway at Portsmouth to build the forward and lower stern sections of the hull, as well as the pole mast. Integration and testing of the ships’ complex mission system is underway at the Company’s Maritime Integration and Support Centre, while another team of BAE Systems engineers on the Isle of Wight tests the advanced communication systems. The Company is set to begin work on the 2 island structures, which house the bridge and traffic control facilities, towards the end of 2011. BAE Systems.

Jan 17/11: CVF 01. Shipyard workers in Portsmouth are beginning the 2nd major phase of construction – building the massive stern section of HMS Queen Elizabeth. The BBC report also identifies HMS Prince of Wales as the ship that will be placed in reserve. BBC.

Jan 14/11: HMWHS. Babcock’s highly mechanized weapons handling system (HMWHS) for the new carriers has successfully completed factory acceptance testing. The HMWHS and its 56 track-mounted “moles” move palletized munitions around the deep magazine and weapon preparation areas, and to a series of weapons lifts that connect the magazines, hangar, weapons preparation area, and flight deck.

Because space on board is always at such a premium, it’s a very complex machinery set designed to get the very most out of all available space – even if that makes retrieving specific items something like solving a Rubik’s Cube. It’s a maritime application of shore-based commercial warehousing processes using automated systems with all-electric controls, and as one might guess, there’s a notable software component as well. Babcok’s release discusses a number of the system’s unique features.

2011

2010 SDS mothballs a carrier, switches to F-35C; Sub-contracts; QE bow ships; UK-French cooperation pledges; Parliamentary report pegs cost at GBP 5.25 billion; Lord Hesketh’s criticisms and resignation.

Enter the F-35C…
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Dec 15/10: Britain’s Harrier fleet is officially retired. The Guardian | Mercopress.

Harriers retired

Nov 22/10: Parliament reports. Britain’s Parliamentary Treasury Committee reports on defense purchasing policy in general, with special attention to the Queen Elizabeth Class. Some excerpts:

“These carriers will cost around [GBP] 5 billion.[96] Only one will be operational, while the other will be placed at ‘extended readiness’.[97] The operational carrier will now have catapult and arrestor gear installed… It became clear that it wasn’t possible to get out of the contract. It would have been possible to have done alternatives. It would have been possible not to have built the carriers and to have built other ships instead. But that would have been less good value for money, and in the end, the judgment was that the carrier strike force was part of the long-term strategic needs; that, looking 10 to 20 years ahead, this was something that would be part of the adaptable posture that we have adopted and, therefore, that we would go ahead with building the carriers. But there were alternatives and those were considered but they were thought, in the end, to be less good from a strategic military perspective and less good from a value-for-money perspective…

If both carriers were completed the stated cost would be [GBP] 5.25 bn. If the Prince of Wales was cancelled, BAE said the direct cost would be [GBP] 4.86 bn, plus an additional [GBP] 690 million of consequential costs. The letter also warned that the loss of a second carrier would precipitate the closure of at least one BAE Systems shipyard, and 2,500 job losses in BAE Systems in Scotland and the South East, as well as several thousand in the wider supply chain. The Chancellor told us that this was “of all the problems we faced, probably the greatest.”[108]… It is argued that the aircraft carrier contract was unbreakable not just for legal reasons, but also because it was inextricably linked to the strategic need to maintain a stable supply of work for the sole warship-producing supplier in the UK… The Treasury should draw on the lessons from the contract to analyse all future Ministry of Defence procurement to ensure that value for money is being obtained, particularly when little competition exists in the market.”

Revised costs

Nov 10/10: Conversion. London’s Telegraph newspaper reports that:

“Babcock, part of the BAE Systems-led consortium building the two carriers, estimates adding the equipment will cost [GBP 600-800 million] per ship, potentially taking the total bill for the vessels to almost [GBP 7 billion for both]. At present, the Government plans to add the extra equipment to only one carrier… Babcock’s chief executive, Peter Rogers, said installing the catapult equipment and switching to the so-called carrier variant of the F35… will allow the Ministry of Defence to greatly reduce the number of aircraft it has to buy and cut the cost of the planes by 25[%] over their life-span, according to last month’s Strategic Defence & Security Review.”

Nov 8/10: Lord Hesketh. Babcock International Group PLC Deputy Chairman Lord Hesketh resigns “with immediate effect,” after the firm issues a statement that: “Babcock dissociates itself from these personal comments [to the Telegraph newspaper], which do not in any respect reflect the views of the company.”

Hesketh has held his position as nonexecutive deputy chairman of Babcock since 1996 and has been a nonexecutive director since 1993. BBC | Defence Management | Daily Mail | The Independent | The Scotsman | Dow Jones.

Nov 8/10: Lord Hesketh. Babcock Deputy Chairman Lord Hesketh tells London’s Telegraph newspaper that:

“Britain could afford to run both ships – and put aircraft on them from the start – were it not for the “vested interest” of BAE Systems, the prime contractor. “We are paying twice as much as we should to get half the capability,”… said the [GBP] 5.2 billion project was a “Loony Tunes” operation that was “about to turn into a classic British disaster”… the F35 will not be ready until 2020, and plans for a jump-jet version have been scrapped – meaning an electric catapult to launch the aircraft will have to be developed at extra cost. Lord Hesketh said a far quicker and cheaper solution was to adapt the RAF’s existing Typhoons for work at sea. But he said this was less remunerative for BAE than buying dozens of new F35s.”

The bit about “an electric catapult” was also interesting.

Nov 2/10: UK & France. The “UK-France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation” has this to say:

“9. Aircraft carriers. The UK has decided to install catapults and arresting gear to its future operational aircraft carrier. This will create opportunities for UK and French aircraft to operate off carriers from both countries. Building primarily on maritime task group co-operation around the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, the UK and France will aim to have, by the early 2020s, the ability to deploy a UK-French integrated carrier strike group incorporating assets owned by both countries. This will ensure that the Royal Navy and the French Navy will work in the closest co-ordination over the next generation.”

In the immediate term, concerns focus on the FS Charles de Gaulle’s readiness; she is currently held in port while problems with her propulsion are resolved. Over the longer term, expressed concerns center around how to share a carrier when national aims often diverge, sometimes strenuously. The more distant worry is that the combination of carrier-sharing and insufficient escort ships make the 2010 SDSR an initial step toward dismantling the Royal Navy, in favor of an EU fleet.

UK/ France Summit

Oct 29/10: Conversion. In an interview with BBC Scotland during a visit to the Govan shipyard, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said that estimates for the addition of catapults to the Queen Elizabeth Class ranged “upwards from GBP 500m,” with studies on going to pick a catapult system and determine likely costs.

Meanwhile, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Peter Luff confirmed that the government had not yet been decided whether one or both carriers would be converted, what type of catapult system to use, procurement approach, or delivery dates. What is fairly certain is that delivery dates will be delayed. Defence Management.

Oct 27/10: Share? As Britain and France prepare to sign a military cooperation treaty, French defense minister Hervé Morin is already discussing the possibility of sharing a carrier:

“Beyond joint exercises, we are in favor of sharing the accompanying of aircraft carriers… I’ve [also] asked our military command to consider the feasibility of stationing British aircraft on our aircraft carrier and vice versa,” Morin said. “We’re looking into other areas such as refueling planes.”

With an in-service date of 2020, however, the Queen Elizabeth Class is unlikely to be ready before the FS Charles de Gaulle needs its long overhaul, making it unlikely to solve the problem of how France can maintain a carrier force during their own carrier’s long drydocking. See: The Telegraph | UPI | Turkey’s Today’s Zaman.

Oct 18/10: Britain’s new government releases its 2010 Strategic Defense and Strategy Review [PDF]. Canceling a carrier would have made no financial sense, but the CVF program will change in several important ways.

First, the carriers will now install catapult gear, delaying in-service dates from 2016 to 2020. This will ensure that the carriers are interoperable with all allies, meaning French and American naval aircraft.

Second, the carriers will embark only F-35s, because the Harrier GR7/9 fleet is about to be retired, leaving the UK with no fixed-wing naval aviation from 2011-2020.

The F-35 chosen will be the F-35C carrier variant, instead of the F-35B that sacrifices range and payload for short takeoff/ vertical landing capability. Since the new carriers won’t enter service until 2020, the F-35C’s late availability won’t be an issue. The other thing that will change are the numbers bought. The report explicitly says the UK intends to reduce its F-35 buy, and also says that:

“We cannot now foresee circumstances in which the UK would require the scale of strike capability previously planned. We are unlikely to face adversaries in large-scale air combat. We are far more likely to engage in precision operations, which may need to overcome sophisticated air defence capabilities. The single carrier will therefore routinely have 12 fast jets embarked for operations while retaining the capacity to deploy up to the 36 previously planned, providing combat and intelligence capability much greater than the existing Harriers. It will be able to carry a wide range of helicopters, including up to 12 Chinook or Merlin transports and eight Apache attack helicopters. The precise mix of aircraft will depend on the mission…”

Finally, one of the carriers (probably the Prince of Wales) will be mothballed into “extended readiness” as soon as it’s delivered, and may be sold at some future date. The cuts have created concern in Britain that it will be unable to defend the Falklands from 2011-2020.

ADDENDUM: The Harrier fleet was taken out of service in December 2010, just a few years after major refits to GR9 status, and sold to the US Marines in 2011 as low-cost spare parts. The carrier Ark Royal was also retired around the end of 2010 per the SDSR, about 2 years sooner than planned. Her sister ship HMS Illustrious had just received a modernization refit, so she was left to operate as a helicopter and command ship, alongside Britain’s LPH helicopter carrier HMS Ocean. HMS Illustrious will now phase out in 2014 instead of 2015. See also Daily Express.

2010 SDSR cuts carrier, switches planes

Sept 8/10: SDSR. BAE Systems CEO Ian King said that the UK Defence Ministry had asked his company to examine options, including canceling the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The ministry is conducting a comprehensive review of defense capabilities, the 1st review since 1998.

In response to a query by Labour lawmaker Thomas Docherty, UK Defence Minister Peter Luff said that equipment subcontracts worth a total of GBP 1.25 billion have already been awarded to build the 2 Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. In a parliamentary written answer to Docherty, Luff also said work is under way at 6 shipyards: Appledore, Birkenhead, Govan, Portsmouth, Rosyth and Tyne. “To rip up these contracts worth millions at this stage would not only be financial madness, but political suicide and I hope the coalition government sees sense,” Docherty, whose district includes Babcock International Group’s Rosyth dockyard, told the BBC.

Aug 9/10: Sensors. Ultra Electronics Command and Control systems announces a contract from the UK’s Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA). They’ll supply electro-optical systems based on the Series 2500, which will be used for general area surveillance and as a Glide Path Camera. Both systems will distribute their results as digital video, and this contract covers initial supply, installation, commissioning, and trials support.

The Series 2500 is already in service on the Type 45 Destroyer’s Electro Optical Gun Control System, and is also in service abroad with the navies of Australia, Brunei and Romania. A Design Services contract was awarded in 2008. and the resulting EO surveillance system is configured as dual EO Director (EOD) system integrated into the carrier’s Mission System. The Glide Path Camera is a single EO Director system that monitors the position, attitude and status of recovering aircraft on their landing approach.

Aug 8/10: Conversion. Jane’s reports [subscription req’d] that: “An unprecedented number of UK Royal Navy (RN) Harrier pilots have begun training for catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) carrier operations in the United States…”

Aug 1/10: SDSR. With Britain’s strategic review in progress, leaks and speculation are flying hard and fast, in an effort to influence the debate going on behind closed doors. The Sunday Times reports [JPEG] that one of the options under consideration is cancellation of Britain’s participation in the F-35 program, and purchase of F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft instead. Expected savings are set at GBP 10 billion – but there would also be costs to modify Britain’s carriers for catapult operations.

July 30/10: SDSR. The Observer reports that: “one of Britain’s new GBP 2bn aircraft carriers could be sold off under cost-cutting plans being considered by the Ministry of Defence. India has lodged a firm expression of interest…” The Guardian | London Evening Standard.

July 26/10: Sub-contractors. Construction of the flight deck’s steel plates begins at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, the final shipyard in the program to begin construction. Under their GBP 44 million contract, they will make 2 of the steel sections that make up the carrier’s flight deck. Their combined 7,500 tonne weight exceeds most serving destroyers. UK MoD.

April 13/10: Sub-contractors. Rolls Royce announces completion of Queen Elizabeth’s 1st propeller, and the successful testing of the vessel’s first MT30 gas turbine in Bristol, UK.

The 33t, 5-bladed Kamewa Adjustable Bolted Propeller is manufactured from nickel aluminium bronze, and will deliver 50,000 horsepower when connected to the ship’s propulsion system. Each carrier will have 2 propellers, and the 1st has now completed acceptance tests at the Rolls-Royce facility in Kristinehamn, Sweden.

April 1/10: CVF 01. Queen Elizabeth’s 2 bow sections are complete, and ready to set sail from Babcock’s Appledore shipyard in Devon. They will make a 6 day journey by barge to Rosyth in Scotland, where the ships will be assembled.

The two sections will make up the bow of the ship. The bulbous bow is 30.3 meters long, and weighs 293 tonnes; the upper bow is 29.1 meters long, and weighs 141 tonnes. “bulbous bows” have become popular in recent years, as they increase speed, fuel efficiency and stability by making the ship more hydrodynamic.

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Jan 14/10: Sub-contractors. The UK’s Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) awards 5 more sub-contracts, worth a total of GBP 333 million (about $540 million). According to the UK MoD, this brings the total value of sub-contracts awarded so far to almost GBP 1.1 billion. Winners and tasks include:

Imtech Marine and Offshore Ltd in Billingham, Teesside, and Portsmouth receives GBP 120 million for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

The Pyeroy/ Cape joint venture Ship Support Services Ltd based near Rosyth, Scotland receives GBP 105 million for paint and scaffolding during the build process.

Henry Abrams in Glasgow receives GBP 85 million to transport sections of the ship from the yards across the UK to Rosyth for final assembly.

Tyco in Manchester wins GBP 15 million for fixed fire fighting systems.

AEI Cables in Birtley, County Durham, receives GBP 8 million for much of the 2,500km of cabling to be installed in the ships. UK Ministry of Defence.

Jan 12/10: SDSR. Reports that the UK is considering cuts to the aircraft carrier program, and especially to its buy of carrier-capable F-35B Lightning II jets, persist. The Guardian.

2009

BAE buys BVT partner; Barrow too busy; CVF 01 begins; Modeling the islands; Sub-contracts, incl. S1850M radar; Political rumblings; Prince of Wales to become helicopter carrier?; India interested?

CVF concept:
leaving Portsmouth
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Dec 18/09: Sub-contractors. South Tyneside’s Shields Gazette reports that a GBP 55 million contract to A&P Tyne in Hebburn continues at full pace, cutting steel for a carriers’ center section. Yard managing director Stewart Boak says that:

“So far as the yard is concerned, we are full steam ahead on the contract, whatever political rumours fly around about what will happen to the project after the General Election. We started working on the contract in July and have between 70 and 75 people from our core workforce involved with the main centre block for the carriers. Next March, we will ramp up the work when the contract enters a new phase and would expect to increase the number of people on the project to about 150 workers.”

Nov 16/09: India. Amidst rumors of major British defense budget cuts, The Guardian reports that India has expressed formal interest in the CVF/Queen Elizabeth class carrier program. The UK MoD is desperately looking for long-term budget savings, but canceling either of its full-size carriers at this point would be rival the cost of finishing them:

“According to senior defence sources, Whitehall officials are examining the feasibility of selling one of the carriers. It is understood they are planning to put forward the option as part of the government’s strategic defence review, which will start early next year… “Selling a carrier is one very serious option,” a defence source said this weekend, although the government is a long way from committing to any sale. It could take between six and 12 months to reach a decision, he added.”

Each Queen Elizabeth carrier costs about $3.5 billion, and the negotiating difference around the Admiral Gorshkov is currently around $2.2+ billion. The question is whether India would be able to buy one of the CVF carriers for less than the UK paid, in order to offer the Treasury monies that it could not otherwise obtain from the CVF program. If a refund could be forthcoming from the Russians, and a deal done with the British, investing the Vikramaditya’s $3 billion could net India a completely new ship rather than an old and refurbished one, with double the Gorshkov’s aerial complement. Key questions include whether those deals could be secured, and whether India is prepared to wait until 2016 for the British carrier, as opposed to 2013 (and sliding…) for Gorshkov.

Nov 3/09: Defence Management reports that:

“Both the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales aircraft carriers will be able to carry the joint strike fighter (JSF) according to defence equipment and support minister Quentin Davies.”

The question is what number of F-35B aircraft will be available for carrier use, and whether there will be enough to equip more than 1 operational carrier with a full fighter complement. Davies adds that “neither has there been any change in our JSF programme,” which could be true in an official sense even if future plans are still being debated. Time will tell.

Oct 29/09: BAE Buyout. BAE buys out VT’s 45% share of BVT Surface Fleet Ltd. for GBP 346 million in cash, under the put option in their joint venture provisions. The new firm will be renamed BAE Surface Ships Ltd. VT Group Chief Executive Paul Lester comments:

“This marks the completion of our transition to a pure support services company and we are well positioned to grow the business both organically and through acquisition, using the resources from the sale of our shareholding in BVT.”

The financial details begin with a base buyout from BAE Systems of around GBP 380 million. Then VT Group will pay about 0.8 million of notional interest, 12.2 million for pensions liabilities, and 22 million in dividend repayments. While this nets GBP 345 million if calculated, all figures are rounded, and VT Group says the result is GBP 346 million net; DID accepts that figure.

VT Group then injects another GBP 43 million of capital into the divested BVT Surface Fleet, to cover cost over-runs on the export contracts for Oman’s and Trinidad’s patrol boats, and pays 4.7 million to settle up various inter-company balances. The net is now GBP 298.3 million.

When the joint venture was announced, BAE Systems acquired a 50% holding in acquisition in Flagship Training Ltd. Per VT’s Group’s future focus as a “pure support company,” it’s buying BAE Systems’ 50% of Flagship Training for GBP 70.2 million (65 million of deferred consideration and 5.2 million of notional interest, held currently as debt). That leaves GBP 228.1 million as the net total for the transaction if calculated. See: BAE Systems | VT Group.

BAE buyout of BVT JV

Oct 25/09: SDSR. Just 2 days after a Liverpool flypast celebrating 100 years of British naval aviation, the UK’s Times reports that the Royal Navy has agreed to turn Prince of Wales into a helicopter carrier, slash its planned buy of 150 F-35Bs to about 50, and save about GBP 8.2 billion from its long term defense budget. Since contracts have already been signed for both carriers, reneging would be expensive. The Times report says that:

“The decision to have only one new aircraft carrier will cut the number of JSFs to be flown by RAF squadrons from 138 to about 50, saving [GBP] 7.6 billion. At current prices, the aircraft will cost close to [GBP] 90m each [DID: about $150 million], but this could rise to more than [GBP] 100m. Using the Prince of Wales as a commando ship will save a further [GBP] 600m, the amount that would have been needed to replace the amphibious landing ship Ocean [link DID’s], which is due to go out of service in 2018. The decision to cut the number of JSF aircraft has been agreed by senior navy and air force commanders in discussions preparing for the strategic defence review.

…A senior Royal Navy officer said: “We always knew that the real cost of the carrier project is the JSF fleet to go on them. It would cost us at least [GBP] 12 billion if we bought all the aircraft we originally asked for. We are waking up to the fact that all those planes are unaffordable. More than half of the [GBP] 5 billion contracts to build the two new carriers have been contracted, so it is too late to get out of building the ships. This way at least we are covered when Ocean goes out of service.”

Changing a ship’s internal plan part-way through construction is also very expensive. What’s more likely to happen is that the 2 carriers will share a single F-35B air wing, and the land-based role will be filled exclusively by about 120 Eurofighters. Britain would have 1 carrier active at any time, with the other available about 50%-60% of the time to embark a combination of EH101 Merlin/Transports, AW159 Lynx Wildcats, AH-64D Mk.1 Apaches, and possibly even CH-47 Chinook helicopters for other missions. More F-35s could always be bought in future if it was thought to be necessary, though that’s considered to be unlikely. See also: Aviation Week | Information Dissemination.

Oct 19/09: Sub-contractors. Rolls Royce begins deliveries under its CVF contracts, shipping the 1st pair of Neptune stabilizing fins from Dunfermline, Scotland to the BVT Surface Fleet shipyard in Govan, where they will be incorporated into a hull section that’s currently under construction.

The stabilizing fins are retractable, and can be extended from their housing in the ship’s hull, pivoting as necessary in order to stabilize the vessel when sailing through rough seas. The passenger cruise ship boom has helped refine this technology, but it also has military uses during various carrier operations such as the loading weaponry, refueling, or takeoff and landing. (q.v. Oct 6/08 entry)

Sept 20/09: Cancellation costs? A Financial Mail article places cancellation penalties on the existing GBP 960 million or so worth of contracts at about GBP 400 million, with another GBP 500 million in contracts to be placed over the next 9 months. Severance and layoff payments would also be required for the project’s 7,000 or so direct workers, and the total estimated cost according to unnamed “defence experts” could be as high as GBP 2 billion in funds spent to no result.

Sept 16/09: The Times reports that the CVF program may be headed for a renewed fight under a new Conservative Party government, if that party wins the forthcoming election:

“George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said in a speech on the economy that he would hold a Budget within weeks of a victory. Afterwards, he was asked to identify specific savings that an incoming Conservative government might make. In comments that surprised and dismayed his own colleagues, he cited the [GBP] 20 billion Eurofighter/Typhoon project, the [GBP] 4 billion project to build two aircraft carriers and the [GBP] 2.7 billion order for 25 A400 transport aircraft as areas ripe for cuts. Later, however, he admitted that he did not know what penalties might have to be paid out under break clauses if the contracts were scrapped.

…Mr Osborne’s intervention appeared to surprise senior colleagues, including Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary. The Conservatives have said in the past that such decisions should be taken as part of a strategic defence review.”

Sept 7/09: Sub-contractors. Another GBP 52 million (about $86.2 million) in contracts for CVF components. The sub-contracts include GBP 16 million to Score Marine Ltd. in Peterhead for 12,000 valves; GBP 15 million to Babcock Strachan and Henshaw in Bristol for an integrated waste management system; GBP 3 million to McGeoch Technology Ltd. in Birmingham for ship lighting and lighting distribution panels; plus “several other smaller contracts.” UK MoD.

HRH Princess Royal
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July 7/09: CVF 01. Her Highness the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) officially presses the button to fire up the laser cutter at BVT’s Govan shipyard, and begin steel-cutting for the new Queen Elizabeth carrier. The UK MoD release adds that:

“While the hull construction is just beginning, the project has moved on apace since the manufacture contract was signed in July last year, with [GBP] 700m worth of sub-contracts placed for the equipment and furnishings.”

The BBC, meanwhile, covers the continuing debate over the Queen Elizabeth class, as the government of the day announces a “root and branch” review of British defense policy.

Queen Elizabeth begins

May 21/09: On the islands. The UK MoD explains work underway to model the CVF’s “island” structures and electronics, using computer modeling and a test structure built on the Isle of Wight. The work at BAE Systems Insyte’s Cowes electromagnetic environment facility is part of BAE’s GBP 275 million contract to design and supply a fully-integrated mission system. That system will includes about 1,400 different pieces of equipment: 1,740 km of fiber-optic cable, over 100 grouped antennas of various types, a complete I.T. infrastructure, complete air traffic control infrastructure, complete communications infrastructure, plus the various radars, self-defense systems, and other electronics.

Placing all of that equipment in the 2 “islands” is a challenge, and so is ensuring that all the electronic emitters won’t interfere with one another. Trying to do all that after the ship is built can lead to expensive re-work and delays. Hence the use of computer modeling, followed by the GBP 600,000 test structure on the Isle of Wight, which allows incremental work and testing to proceed before this part of the ship is built and fitted. BAE Systems’ Steve Dowdell sums up their philosophy, which mirrors modern approaches to software development:

“We need to integrate early, little and often. The earlier you integrate the more time you have to fix problems, not six months before the end of the programme. Little and often means we can apply bits of kit incrementally – that’s our mantra.”

Mach 23/09: Sub-contractors. The UK MoD announces GBP 83 million ($120 million equivalent) in additional CVF contracts. The Aircraft Carrier Alliance has now placed sub-contracts for almost 40% of the total value of the base materials and equipment required to build both ships.

Recent contracts will sustain over 400 jobs, and include:

• GBP 57 million to Ticon Ltd UK in Glasgow (350 jobs). Their insulations will prevent the transfer of noise and heat, while providing force protection;
  
• GBP 25 million from Thales UK in Crawley, West Sussex (50 jobs). Their communications systems will cover both onboard IP networks for data and voice, and fleet-wide UHF/VHF;
  
• GBP 1m to Ormandy Group in Bradford, West Yorkshire (?? jobs) to treat and supply hot and cold fresh water to the accommodation spaces within the ships.

See: UK MoD | Royal Navy.

March 2/09: Sub-contractors. The Alliance Management Board of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) approves a revision to the CVF build strategy. That revision is described above, and includes a shift away from BAE’s facility in Barrow, which is too busy with submarine work.

The ACA has also announced further shipbuilding orders worth up to GBP 150 million to UK shipyards. A&P Tyne in Tyneside, and Cammell Laird in Merseyside, have both been named as preferred bidders for the ship’s large central Upper Blocks. A regional breakdown of contracts issued to date was provided with the ACA release.

Feb 11/09: Radar. Thales Nederland announces a contract with BAE Systems for a pair of S1850M Long Range Volume Search active array radars, a modified version of Thales SMART-L. S1850M radars are produced by Thales and BAE Insyte.

The first radar system is scheduled to be delivered during 2011, and the second radar system in 2013. The scope includes minor enhancements to the S1850 design that serves on Britain’s Type 45 anti-air destroyers, in order to meet the specific needs of aircraft carrier operations.

Jan 16/09: Sub-contractors. The Royal Navy announces another GBP 90 million ($131.5 million equivalent) in contracts for long lead time items, which need to be available during the early phases of the construction process. These orders include:

• GBP 50 million covering steelwork for bow sections of the 2 carriers, to be carried out at Babcock’s Appledore Shipyard in Devon. Early steelwork for HMS Queen Elizabeth commenced in December 2008. This contract will sustain some 150 jobs at peak production;
  
• GBP 3.4 million in galley in kitchen equipment from Kempsafe Ltd in Southampton;
  
• GBP 23 million for modular cabins and “wet spaces,” plus another GBP 4.4 million in furniture, from McGill Services Ltd. This will sustain about 40 jobs at peak production in Billingham, County Durham;
  
• GBP 1.3 million in windows from Tex Special Projects Ltd in Ipswich;
  
• GBP 3.9 million in doors and hatches from McGeoch Marine Ltd in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire; and
  
• GBP 4 million in aircraft electrical supplies equipment from Ultra Electronics PMES in Rugeley, Staffs.

See: UK MoD | Royal Navy.

2008

Program go-ahead for main build; Program delayed 1-2 years; Sub-contracts, including propulsion.

CVF Alliance “Delta”
(click to view full)

Dec 11/08: CVF Delayed. The UK MoD confirms that they are delaying the CVF program:

“We have concluded that there is scope for bringing more closely into line the introduction of the Joint Combat Aircraft and the Aircraft Carrier. This is likely to mean delaying the In Service Date of the new carriers by 1-2 years. We are in close consultation with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance on how this might best be done. Construction is already under way and will continue, the programme will still provide stability for the core shipyard workforce, including 10,000 UK jobs.”

The F-35 program’s decision to extend its testing phase into mid-2014 did create a potential schedule issue for CVF, even though the F-35B is expected to reach operational status before that date. Liam Fox, the opposition Conservative Party’s shadow for the defense portfolio, was quoted in a Bloomberg News report as saying that:

“The aircraft-carrier announcement is the government finally owning up to industry and the public that they so dragged out the process that there was never any realistic prospect of them meeting the 2014 and 2016 in-service dates… This questions whether the government is really committed to the carrier program.”

See also: The Register (op-ed).

Nov 29/08: CVF Delayed. The expected major construction contract for the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers is late, amidst consistent reports of defense spending cuts over the next 5 years, and an economic downturn. That lateness has prompted rumors of threats to the CVF project – rumors that are currently being denied by people in the Royal Navy, industry, and government.

The Scotsman’s report quotes Commodore Mike Mansergh and Alan Johnston, the chief executive of the BVT Surface Fleet joint venture. The Telegraph quotes assurances by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Comments indicate that a deal is likely to be finalized by March 2009 – though that deal may involve later construction and delivery dates, in order to stretch procurement funds. The Scotsman | The Telegraph.

Oct 6/08: Sub-contractors. The latest GBP 235 million (about $415 million) set of CVF contracts will deliver the carriers’ gas turbines, generators, motors, power distribution equipment, platform management systems, propellers, shafts, steering gear, rudders and stabilizers. A sub-alliance arrangement will manage this contract, and handle overall responsibility for this aspect of the ship; it is led by Thales UK, with participation from Rolls Royce (turbines, propellers, steering and stabilizers, low voltage systems), GE (formerly Converteam: electric conversion, high voltage systems), and L-3 (platform management system).

The COmbined Diesel And Gas (CODAG) system will be supplied by Rolls Royce in Fife, Scotland, UK and Converteam in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. The company’s overall share of this latest contract set is GBP 96 million, and includes a pair of 35MW MT30 turbines. Rolls Royce’s Dalgety Bay facilty will benefit from a GBP 13 million contract to provide rudders and stabilisers which steer the ship and keep it level, while the facility in Rugby will provide the generators that will be coupled to the CODAG system. In all, each ship will be capable of generating some 109 MW, and feeding it to the Advanced Induction Motor (AIM) propulsion and/or the ship’s systems.

Power conversion specialists Converteam will provide the electric equipment which controls and monitors the power for the propulsion system and motors, under a GBP 26 million contract. This involves making medium-voltage (11kV) switchboards, VDM25000 solid state variable speed drive controllers, electric converters, and filters. The system will be based upon the one Converteam is helping to build for the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 air defense destroyers. Converteam spun off from ALSTOM; with the completion of a second leveraged buyout [PDF] on Sept 30/08, the GBP 2 billion firm is now held by Barclays Private Equity France (33.3%), new stakeholder LBO France (33.3%), and by the Management and the employees (33.3%). Rolls Royce release | Thales UK alliance release | Converteam alliance release [PDF] | The Royal Navy and UK MoD release; does not detail the remaining GBP 111 million in contracts to the sub-alliance.

Sept 1/08: Sub-contractors. The UK MoD announces a series of contracts for various systems within its Queen Elizabeth Class carriers. Investments in this set total GBP 51 million (about $93 million). Firms were not specified, but items bought include:

• GBP 34 million to manufacture and install Highly Mechanised Weapons Handling Systems for the two ships. It will automate and track the movement of large quantities of munitions on board the carriers. Its goal is to let the new carriers function with the same weapon handling crew size as the current Invincible class carriers, which are about 1/3 their size.
  
• GBP 8 million to supply air uptake and downtake systems for both ships.
  
• GBP 5 million to development and supply Air Traffic Control software.
  
• GBP 3 million for Whole-ship Pump Integration, including pumps and associated systems engineering.
  
• GBP 1+ million for Emergency Diesel Generators.

May 20/08: CVF. The UK MoD announces that it has given the go-ahead to the CVF project, and expects industry players to follow suit with the promised joint venture firm shipbuilding consolidation, so work can begin on the 2 carriers. Reports indicate that BAE Systems and VT Group hope to finalize joint venture plans by mid-June 2008. UK MoD | BAE Systems | Thales | VT Group | Agence France Presse | Bloomberg | The Guardian | North-West Evening Mail | Times Online | The Scotsman predicts up to 800 new jobs in the Rossyth yard | Forbes re: JV | Telegraph re: JV

CVF go-ahead

May 18/08: Sharing a carrier with the French? The Times of London reports on talks that may lead to the building of just 2 CVF type carriers, instead of 2 Queen Elizabeth Class ships and the French PA2.

The “bilateral carrier group interoperability initiative” was proposed by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, at his March 2008 summit with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The idea is that either navy could borrow an aircraft carrier from the other if their own was unavailable as a result of a breakdown or refit, and there was agreement on the military mission and objectives. That latter requirement is what makes any arrangement of this kind so unlikely. British MoD officials reportedly dismissed the talks as “aspirational” and insisted there were “no current plans” to share carriers with the French.

May 17/08: The Times of London reports:

“General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, has written confidentially to all one-star and two-star officers in the Ministry of Defence -equivalent to brigadier and major-general – asking for their views about the need for a next-generation carrier strike force… There is increasing speculation that the RAF’s Super Lynx helicopter project and the third phase of the Eurofighter/ Typhoon programme may have to be scrapped [if the program goes ahead].”

April 4/08: Sub-contractors. Thales UK places a GBP 13 million (about $26 million) contract on behalf of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance for aircraft lifts and their associated motors and hydraulic machinery. Each of the carriers will have 2 tennis-court sized lifts (about 400 square meters), which use established technologies to lift 70 tonnes each from hangar to flight deck in 60 seconds. They are used to move aircraft, helicopters, and heavy equipment to the flightline, and the installed weight of the 2 lifts on each ship will be around 500 tonnes/ 600 tons. MacTaggart Scott employs 245 workers at its Loanhead site in Midlothian.

CVF long-lead item contracts announced to date include those for the flightline elevators, diesel generators, steel, Identification Friend or Foe electronics, flying control rooms, landing aids, navigation and bridge systems, infrastructure works at Rosyth dockyard to allow for the assembly of the ships, a fiber optic cable plant, a reverse osmosis plant and the aviation fuel system. UK MoD.

April 1/08: The Telegraph reports that cost-saving proposals worth an estimated GBP 100 million have been made by BAE Systems and VT to the UK Defence ministry, in an attempt to head off further delays to the proposed GBP 3.9 billion contract for 2 CVF aircraft carriers.

March 31/08: Value-Added Tax is widespread concept in Europe, and in Canada as well as the Goods & Services Tax. The concept resembles a sales tax, but levied at each stage of the production or services process. The topic is relevant to Britain’s new aircraft carriers because Britain’s VAT is applied to ships built by multiple companies, but not to those built by only one.

BAE Systems has been lobbying for a prime contractor role on the carriers, and the proposed merger with VT’s shipbuilding assets into Shipco gives them a vehicle that could end up saving as much as GBP 700 million in VAT taxes over the project’s lifetime. The House of Commons Defence Committee is concerned, however, fearing that a shift to a prime contractor approach could lead to the same kinds of cost overruns and schedule issues seen on the Nimrod patrol aircraft and Astute Class fast-attack submarines. The Times report.

March 4/08: Sub-contractors. Britain buys about GBP 73 million (about $140 million) in early production items for its CVF carriers.

Corus has won a GBP 65 million contract to supply 80,000 tonnes of steel to the Royal Navy for its 2 new aircraft carriers, against international competition. Most of the steel will be manufactured at sites in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, Dalzell, near Motherwell and Skinningrove in Teesside. Dent Steel Services (Yorkshire) Ltd. will be providing warehousing, as well as shot-blasting and painting services. Over 90% of CVF steel tonnage will be produced in the UK, with some smaller quantities being produced in Europe.

Other long-lead items bought include blown fiber optic cable (GBP 3 million, Brand-Rex Limited in Glenrothes, Scotland and Alfred-McAlpine IT Services), reverse osmosis equipment to produce over 500 tonnes of fresh water per day (GBP 1 million, Salt Separation Services in Rochdale, Lancashire), and aviation fuel systems equipment (GBP 4 million, Aviation Fuel Systems Equipment in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire). UK MoD release | BBC report.

2005 – 2007

Main build contract; CVF/PA2 agreement; Final design contract.

CVF concept: top view
(click to view full)

Dec 11/07: Sub-contractors. Defense Aerospace has a copy of a UK MoD release that’s curiously lost from the MoD site, noting that contracts totaling GBP 28 million (about $57 million) have been placed for equipment related to the CVF carriers. DID adds to these reports using other sources as well:

8 diesel engines and electricity generators – 4 per ship – at a cost of about GBP 18.5 million. The contract went to Wartsila Defence SAS, based in Nantes France, with the engines to be manufactured in Trieste, Italy. Power output for each ship will be about 100 MW (40 engines, 60 alternators) and the weight of a ship set is about 800 tonnes. The size of the ships means that the exhausts for some of these diesels are 130 metres long. Accordingly, the diesel generators are located deep in the hull and have to be fitted very early. This is a loss for Rolls Royce, whose 36MW MT-30 was seen as the main competition.

The first ship set of diesel generators will be delivered in 2009, with the equipment for the second ship following in 2011. The alternators, which transform the diesel’s power into electricity, are built at Converteam, in Rugby, Warwikshire, UK. See MarineLink.

INBS – Detailed design of a new and innovative fully Integrated Navigation and Bridge System, initially worth in excess of GBP million. Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit will deliver a system based on Sperry Marine’s VisionMaster FT. The system uses an advanced network architecture that will provide the ship’s watch team with a seamless integration of radar and chart functionality that will bring together all of the ships’ navigation sensors and systems into a modern, efficient, ergonomic bridge. Sperry Marine is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA with a major engineering and support office in New Malden, UK where this work will be performed. See NGC release.

Flyco (Flying Control) rooms at a cost of circa GBP 1 million. The contract went to Tex Special projects of Ipswich, Suffolk, UK.

Advanced visual landing aids, to guide fighters and helicopters on to the deck. This GBP 7.5 million contract was issued to Aeronautical and General Instruments Ltd of Poole, Dorset, UK.

Nov 19/07: CVF & PA2. DCNS announces that French (DCNS and Aker Yards) and British (BAE Systems, VT Shipbuilding, Thales Naval and Babcock Support Services) corporations have signed an agreement that lays down the general provisions for co-operation for the development, manufacture and in-service support of the PA2 and CVF carriers. One aspect of the agreement is that the teams will study the feasibility of making all equipment requests joint acquisitions, in order to maintain commonality and drive down costs.

Key caveat: France’s PA2 hasn’t yet been approved for construction.

Sept 22/07: Industrial. Viasys UK announces that its Material Advantage software system has been selected by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance to provide the backbone of its procurement and contracts management functions.

The ACA will use Material Advantage to provide a central hub for procurement, contracts, materials control and document control, while interfacing with many other ACA systems and applications in use at Alliance member sites. A Viasys project team has been deployed at the ACA project office in Filton, Bristol to ensure that delivery of the system meets the ACA requirements and timescales, and provide on-going support. Viasys release.

July 25/07: BAE Systems plc announces that it has entered into a legally binding Framework Agreement with VT Group plc (‘VT’) to establish a joint venture (JV), which will be the UK’s premier provider of surface warships and through-life support. This is part of the sector rationalization pushed by the UK ministry of Defence as a precondition for its CVF carrier program. See full DID article.

BVT JV

July 25/07: Production Order. Orders for two new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers are confirmed by Defence Secretary Des Browne, who said the GBP 3.8 billion (about $7.8 billion) contract would lead to the construction of the largest vessels ever sailed by the Royal Navy.

The settlement of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) for defense paved the way for the new ships, and breaks down into an annual budget of GBP 34 billion in 2008/9, GBP 35.3 billion in 2009/10 and GBP 36.9 billion in 2010/11. MoD release | UK MoD: “First Sea Lord welcomes aircraft carrier decision” (incl. video) | BAE release | BBC report.

Build contract

Jan 16/07: France. Mer et Marine updates the status of the French PA2/CVF program, and excerpts are translated by Defense-Aerospace.

Meanwhile, the French are working to get US clearance for a steam catapult system to incorporate into their carrier (the British plan to deploy the F-35B which uses a take-off ramp and vertical landing instead). On the British side, the British government wants its shipbuilding industry to begin restructuring in accordance with the Defence Industrial Strategy before it awards the future aircraft carrier (CVF) contract. British yards shipyards are visiting French facilities, and looking to benefit from their improvement – and the French have offered to help, for a price. The quid pro quo is that British shipyards adopt French production standards and methods, and that the British agreed to design changes that accommodate French requirements (provision for larger ammunition storage holds, special secure storage areas the French can use for nuclear weapons, etc.) There is some thought that adoption of identical standards could lead to the building of common sections for the three carriers, but that hasn’t gone past the discussion stage at this point.

May 5/06: Design. Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson announces a series of contracts totalling GBP 143 million ($263.5 million at current conversion) to continue to refine and develop CVF design. These contracts cover all aspects of the ship and ship equipment including hull, structure, mission systems, the planned all-electrical power and propulsion system, and the involvement of shipyard and industry design teams in this work. Contract winners included alliance team members KBR, Thales UK, VT Group, Babcock, BAE Systems Naval Ships and BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies. See MoD release.

April 13/06: The MoD and its five Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) partners – BAE Systems, KBR, Thales UK, VT Group and Babcock – signed an Alliance agreement that will take the project through the current demonstration phase. It establishes the Alliance management arrangements, relationships and behaviors with reference to the UK’s Defence Industrial Strategy.

The Alliance’s structure consists of a senior Alliance Board, chaired by Chief of Defence Procurement with CEOs of the participant companies, overseeing the strategy with the project’s direction the responsibility of a sub-ordinate Alliance Management Board, chaired by the MOD’s team leader with representatives of each of the participant companies. Reporting to the AMB is an Alliance Management Team delivering the outputs, drawing on staff from all the participant companies, and headed by a Chief Executive, an MOD civil servant seconded from Industry. See MoD release.

ACA agreement

March 6/06: UK & France Reach Agreement on CVF Carrier Development. Including R&D cost-sharing to the tune of GBP 100 million. The agreement was formalized on March 6/06 at an informal meetings of EU Defence Ministers in Innsbruck, Austria.

A Common Baseline Design was later agreed upon, which the governments hope will bring savings in design costs, procurement and possibly support. The program is not fully collaborative in that France will also make its own modifications, its role is limited to exercising ‘influence’ rather than executive authority over the project, and there shall be no delays waiting for French decisions.

Jan 14/06: France Steaming Ahead on PA2/CVF Carrier Project with a EUR 20 million contract to develop a “modified CVF” design for France. The CVF design includes room for catapults, and France will install steam catapults for use with its Rafale-M fighters, E-2C Hawkeye 2000s, et. al. Other modifications will also be made by DCN/Thales.

CVF/PA2 agreement

Dec 21/05: Parliament reports. UK Defence Committee Continues Questions RE: CVF, F-35. This Parliamentary report examines both the CVF and F-35 JSF program in detail. The row over the JSF and technology transfer, aka. ‘sovereign capability’ also continues and is debated.

Dec 12/05: British Defence Secretary John Reid announces a series of major developments that effectively ended the exploratory phases, launched the program, and set out the program’s roadmap. He also announces GBP 300 million to develop the design of the ships to the point at which manufacturing can begin.

Program launch

CVF: Ancillary Contracts and Events

This section involves items that are being developed as separate projects from CVF (as opposed to items bought off the shelf), or involves equipment and infrastructure that relates to the carriers but will not be fitted to them.

2013 – 2014

Crowsnest AEW competition.

AW101 ASaC
(click to view full)

Feb 3/14: AEW. The UK MoD announces that savings from renegotiating the main carrier contract (q.v. Nov 6/13) are being channeled to accelerate the Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control program to ensure that it’s operational by 2019. Defence Secretary Hammond says this is being done “so that we will have the full operating capability available when the aircraft carriers go into service.” As part of this move, Merlin mission system integrator Lockheed Martin is receiving “a UK 24 million contract to run a competition to design, develop and demonstrate Crowsnest.” It’s actually a continuation of previous work, and the UK will pick a radar system from either Thales/AgustaWestland or Lockheed/ Northrop Grumman (q.v. July 24-30/13).

The Sea King Mk.7 ASaCs are retiring in 2016, along with all other Royal Navy Sea Kings. “Crowsnest” isn’t even slated for a Main Gate spending decision until 2017, with initial deliveries for testing in 2019. The planned date for CVF Initial Operational Capability was 2020, but its pair of Crowsnest AEW helicopters would be an emergency deployment that wasn’t fully untested. Full Operational Capability, with a fully-functional AEW contingent, and all aspects of the ship ready for deployment to high-threat areas, wasn’t expected until 2022. The MoD has conveniently avoided any kind of revised schedule in its announcement, so it’s difficult to tell whether this simply means that the 2020 carrier IOC will include AEW helicopters with more testing under their belts, or whether he’s promising FOC for the carrier as a whole by 2020. This issue has been a source of concern for Parliament’s Defence Committee (q.v. Sept 19/12, Sept 3/13), who can be expected to pry further into the details. Sources: Hansard, Feb 3/14 | UK MoD, “New surveillance system for Royal Navy aircraft carriers”.

July 24-30/13: AEW. As part of its GBP 750 million MSCP contract to upgrade the Royal Navy’s Merlin HM1 fleet, Lockheed Martin is overseeing an initial GBP 3 million investigation into “Crowsnest” AEW integration with its “Vigilance” mission suite. That contract was awarded in 2012, and the 18-month assessment phase has just begun. It should be done by the end of 2014.

Eventually, 10 helicopter will receive refits. Option 1 is a Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman radar pod (q.v. Nov 18/11, Feb 14/12) based on the SABR F-16 AESA radar. Option 2 is Thales / AgustaWestland’s ASaC proposal (q.v. July 4/10) that would just move the Sea Kings’ Searchwater 2000 equipment over to the AW101s, upgrade the radars, and install them in a retractable rear ramp housing. The Vigilance team is touting advanced technology and portability, the ASaC team focuses on low costs and fast turnaround. Sources: Flight Global, “Royal Navy works to add more capability to Merlin fleet” and “Thales cites affordability and speed for Crowsnest bid”.

2010 – 2012

 

EMALS Components
(click to view full)

Feb 14/12: AEW. AIN offer more detail re: the Lockheed & Northrop Grumman Vigilance pod solution for airborne early warning. With the Nimrod fleet gone, the potential for commonality between Navy helicopters and fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft is a key point being stressed by its backers. From “Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Offer Airborne Vigilance At Lower Cost”:

“The [Windows-based] software and hardware (including operator consoles) from this upgrade project form a key part of the Vigilance proposal. They process and display the data from the radar and other sensors mounted in self-contained pods that have their own environmental control system and anti-vibration mountings.

The radar is a minimal adaptation of Northrop Grumman’s fighter-size APG-80/81 series. A gimbal will be added to provide a 180-degree field of view. Two pods fitted either side of a Merlin, H-60 or similar-size helicopter would provide hemispheric coverage. On a C-130, the pods would be mounted under the outer wings. The CN-235 is another potential fixed-wing platform…. The pod weighs just over 600 pounds and requires 25 kW of power.”

Dec 21/11: EMALS/AAG. General Atomics in San Diego, CA receives $17.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to provide engineering support for the development of EMALS and Advanced Arresting Gear configurations for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier Program. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA, and is expected to be complete in June 2012. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-11-C-0057).

Nov 18/11: AEW. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have adapted the SABR AESA fighter radar into a Vigilance pod that can be carried on AW101 Merlin Mk2 naval helicopters, other medium-plus rotary platforms, and even on RAF transport aircraft.

That offers an interesting competitive option against AW/Thales AW101 ASaC, and might even offer a way ahead to first supplement, and then replace, the RAF’s big 707-based E-3D AWACS jets. Could more + cheaper + networked end up offering improved performance, as well as survivability benefits? AIN Online.

Nov 15/11: EMALS/AAG. The US DSCA announces [PDF] Britain’s official request for Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System/Advanced Arresting Gear (EMALS/AAG) long lead sub-assemblies. EMALS long-lead items include the Energy Storage System, Power Conditioning System, and Launch Control System. AAG long-lead items include Power Conditioning, Energy Absorption Subsystems, Shock Absorbers, and Drive Fairleads. The request would also cover Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, software support, and other forms of U.S. Government and contractor support.

The estimated cost is up to $200 million, and the prime contractor will be General Atomics in Rancho Bernardo, CA. This is still just a potential sale, but the nature and specificity of the request strongly suggests that Britain has decided to abandon its own electro-magnetic catapult research. Now that EMALS is launching real aircraft, they can certainly reduce technical uncertainties and costs by buying it to equip one of their forthcoming Queen Elizabeth Class carriers.

Oct 12/11: NLSS. Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine unit signs a full production contract with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, for the Queen Elizabeth Class’ Navigation Lights Shapes and Sounds (NLSS) signaling system. This confirms the end of the NLSS design phase, and deliveries will begin in 2012.

The system has been designed by Northrop Grumman together with its technology partner Oxley Developments, and includes an innovative set of 47 night-vision friendly LED navigation and signal lights, plus control of ships’ audible signaling equipment. International regulation and signaling requirements are met using pre-programmed commands from touch screen workstations, with full status and diagnostics built in. Northrop Grumman is already delivering the carrier’s Integrated Navigation Bridge System, Inertial Navigation System, Navigation Data Distribution System and the Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System (WECDIS). NGC.

Sept 21/11: Goliath. The Rosyth shipyard’s Goliath crane (see Jan 30/09 entry) begins operation at Rosyth. The first major lift comes later that week, as the 1st section of the 8,000-tonne, 2-deck center block is lifted onto the 8,000t, 7-deck-high Lower Block 03. UK MoD.

Goliath Crane ships
(click to view full)

March 7/11: Goliath. The required ‘Goliath’ crane heads into Rosyth, Scotland after a 14,000 nm journey from Shanghai’s Zhenhua Port Machinery, carried aboard a specialist crane transport ship. The crane is being delivered with the girder and upper sections of the legs already assembled. It will be erected to its full height on the ship over a 6-week period, before being winched from ship to shore directly onto the crane rails. After that, it will take another 4 months to erect, test and commission the crane. Final handover is expected in the summer of 2011, ensuring that it will be ready for use by September 2011. See also Jan 30/09 entry. UK MoD.

Oct 18/10: SDSR = F-35C, EMALS. Britain’s new government releases its 2010 Strategic Defense and Strategy Review [PDF]. As noted above, Britain decides to install catapults on 1 carrier, and switch to the F-35C.

July 20/10: EMALS. Jane’s reports that the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is funding development of an electromagnetic catapult system for the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, in case the F-35B STOVL is abandoned. Rather than go through the involved process of joining America’s EMALS program, however, they appear to have contracted with Converteam, who was already developing an electro-magnetic launch systems for UAVs under an April 2006 EMKIT (Electro Magnetic Kinetic Integrated Technology) contract.

The GBP 650,000 (about $1 million) EMCAT contract was reportedly awarded in July 2009, as a follow-on effort to continue the design, development and demonstration of high-power electrical systems for its EMCAT (electro-magnetic catapult) system. In October 2009, a smaller-scale demonstration of both controlled acceleration and braking was performed using electromagnetic linear motors. This could lead to the same core systems being used for launch and recovery. New Low Voltage linear motors with reduced end effect coils were delivered in early 2010, paving the way for the design of medium voltage linear motors which will help Converteam scale up their design. Jane’s Naval Intelligence | Converteam project page.

July 19/10: ARTISAN. The CVF’s ARTISAN 3D radar has begun tracking trials, mounted on a full-size mockup of the CVF superstructure, built on the Isle of Wight. The radar will perform air traffic management, surveillance, target tracking with clutter discrimination, back-up navigation and Identification Friend or Foe capabilities on the CVFs, British Type 23 frigates, and amphibious ships such as HMS Ocean, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.

The radar recently finished its Customer Critical Design Review, and the 1st full system is due at the Land Based Test Facility at Portsdown in 2011. The first ship fitted with the replacement radar system is likely to be a Type 23 frigate, as HMs Queen Elizabeth won’t receive her radar until final assembly in Rosyth. BAE Systems.

July 14/10: AEW. AgustaWestland and Thales sign an agreement to offer a new airborne early warning option for Britain’s new carriers: an AW101 Merlin Helicopter with Thales’ Cerberus mission system and Searchwater 2000 radar. H-3 Sea King ASaC (Airborne Surveillance and Control) Mk7 helicopters currently perform this role using the same Cerberus/Searchwater 2000 combination, but they’re scheduled for retirement in 2016. Since the Merlin helicopter has already cemented its place as the British Navy’s future medium helicopter, this collaboration locks itself down as the lowest risk replacement option. AgustaWestland.

Jan 30/09: Infrastructure. The UK MoD reports on changes underway at the Rosyth dockyard, in order to accommodate the new carriers. The Firth of Forth yard’s No 1 dock was originally built in 1916. Babcock Marine is managing work to increase the dock’s capacity; and to widen the entrance from 38m to 42m in order to allow the ship blocks in, then let the completed carriers out. A coffer dam is also being built, in order to create a dry working environment.

A GBP 15 million 120-metre “Goliath” span crane from Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery was due to arrive in August 2010, but arrived in May 2011 instead. The crane will straddle the dock, with a total 1,000t capacity from 3 hooks, including 500t from the central, lower trolley and hook. It. Nearly 90 reinforced concrete bored pile foundations are being socketed 3m into the underlying rock on the eastern side of the dock, with further piles driven up to 7m into rock on the western side.

Up to 150 staff from BAM Nuttall are doing the engineering in a GBP 35m contract with Babcock on behalf of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, with workers from around 50 other sub-contractors also on site.

2006 – 2009

 

ARTISAN 3D on Duke Class
(click to view full)

Jan 12/09: F-35. Reports of a US Navy NAVAIR study surface in the USA. “Joint Programs TOC (Total Ownership Cost) Affordability reportedly says that:

“…the cost to operate and support the F-35 [for the USA, all variants] will be $442 billion or more depending on additional costs for integration on ships and currently unforeseen development costs. This estimate is in FY 2002 program baseline dollars; the current dollar cost will be significantly higher. The production and development costs are cited, by the JET II, to be $217 and $46 billion respectively (2002 $), thereby making total program ownership cost to be $704 billion, or more, in 2002 dollars… the cost to operate the existing (larger) fleet of F-18A-Ds and AV-??8s. Cost per flight hour of the combined F-18A-D and AV-8 fleets is estimated to be about $19,000 per hour; F-35B/C cost per flight hour is estimated to be about $31,000…”

This American debate is also significant to Britain’s financial questions, as it ponders the future of its carrier force. The navalized F-35B’s more complex LiftFan STOVL system and swiveling afterburner nozzle could make it even more expensive to operate than its naval F-35C counterpart. While F-35 operating costs will be difficult to estimate until the testing program is much farther ahead, the NAVAIR study is in line with several decades of acquisition history; newer, more advanced jets consistently cost more to operate than preceding generations. The F-35 is attempting to reverse this trend using smart wiring, embedded prognostics, fleet maintenance systems like ALIS, design for maintainability, and other innovations. Can Lockheed Martin break this very long and consistent cycle? DoD Buzz | ELP Defens(c)e, incl. chart.

Nov 27/08: F-35B. The Register reports concerns that the F-35B may be unable to meet critical performance criteria for carrier operation. In order to be capable of combat air patrols at an acceptable cost, the carrier’s fighters needs to be able to take off fully armed, fly a patrol, and then land back on the ship without having to dump its missiles beforehand. The F-35B has had issues with its vertical fan system, and tests have yet to begin. Britain’s concerns are reportedly serious enough that they are investigating “Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landings” (SRVL), where jets would add some lift by moving forward slowly as they landed.

If Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) efforts with Britain’s 3 F-35Bs fail, however, the impacts will be far-reaching. Assuming that the carrier program survives, the first consequence would be an aircraft switch. The article quotes General O’Donoghue’s recent Parliamentary Defence Committee testimony as saying that a navalized Eurofighter is not being looked at, but the F-35C carrier variant “must be an option” if the F-35B STOVL cannot meet Britain’s needs.

The problem is that any move away from the F-35B requires the addition of aircraft catapults on the ship. A nuclear carrier produces great quantities of steam, but the CVF’s CODAG powerplant does not. Retrofitting steam catapults to CVF’s design increases its build and operating costs, and may require an increase in size to match France’s PA2.

The alternative is an EMALS Electro-Magnetic catapult, which is still in the R&D stage as a critical technology for the USA’s new CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford Class super-carriers. If it could be produced and fielded in time, it would leverage the Queen Elizabeth Class’ all-electric power infrastructure, while requiring less space and less maintenance than today’s steam catapults.

Aug 4/08: ARTISAN. BAE Systems announces a GBP 100 million contract (about $195 million) to develop the ARTISAN 3D (Advanced Radar Target Indication Situational Awareness and Navigation) radar, for deployment on a variety of ships including the Queen Elizabeth Class. Between 2011-2015, it will also be refitted to Britain’s Type 23 “Duke Class” frigates, the amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, and the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean. BAE Systems, QinetiQ and Roke Manor Research will form the Artisan 3D team.

Artisan will be a medium range radar used for “volume search”, which means it can quickly scan large areas and pass potential targets to the ship’s fire control radar. It will also have secondary navigation functions, and is being designed to operate effectively in the clutter produced by near-shore littoral environments. BAE has confirmed with DID that Artisan will use a passive phased array design. UK MoD release | BAE release.

Feb 11/08: Infrastructure. Babcock Engineering Services signs a GBP 35 million contract with Glasgow-based subcontractors Edmund Nuttall Limited. The contract covers key modifications to the dock, and the widening of the direct entrance. The rest of the planned GBP 50 million (about $100 million) upgrade will be spent on the ‘Goliath’ crane (which will be the UK’s largest) and hauling gear.

The majority of the work at Rosyth will be carried out by Edmund Nuttall Limited in Scotland and the rest by their own subcontractors; the firm is part of the Royal BAM Group Dutch civil engineering and construction company. UK MoD release.

F-35B JSF Cutaway
by John Batchelor
(click to view full)

June 27/06: F-35B. A $115.8 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract for integration of the British version of the joint strike fighter (F-35B JSF STOVL) with its CVF future carrier project, under the JSF systems development and demonstration effort. Work will be performed in Warton, United Kingdom (57%), Fort Worth, TX (35%), Orlando, FL (5%), and El Segundo, CA (3%), and is expected to be complete in October 2013. The contract modification was issued by US NAVAIR to Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, TX.

March 23/06: F-35B. British JSF Prospects Looking Up covers the developments, controversies, and prospects surrounding Britain’s potential F-35B Joint Strike Fighter buy, which is expected to serve as the mainstay of its carrier fleet.

Jan 24/06: F-35B. The UK has been looking for an alternate fighter option, in case differences over the F-35 JSF program prove too great. According to The Financial Mail, the French Minister of Defense made a verbal offer on this day during talks in London, to let the UK buy “up to 150” carrier-capable Rafale-M jets. This would appear to give the UK its desired “Plan B” for CVF aircraft, esp. given French cooperation in the CVF’s design and potentially its build-out.

Jan 13/06: Training. GBP 100M to BAE for Surface Warship Combat Sims. The idea is to have the crews know how to operate the ship’s combat and command systems before they are taken aboard.

Appendix A: CVF Program Management

Stealth Trimaran – lost
(click to view full)

When the production contract was issued in July 2007, delivery of the CVF carriers was expected in 2014 and 2016. That has now slipped, but the project’s industrial philosophy remains. As British Defence Secretary John Reid noted:

“This project is a key to the Defence Industrial Strategy and marks the end to the ‘boom and bust’ industrial cycle. The introduction of a managed and steady work stream will allow industry to plan efficiently and to retain the highly skilled workforce that has contributed to the fine tradition of shipbuilding in this country. In addition, this project will sustain and create some 10,000 UK jobs around the country.”

Given this focus, and the project’s size, it should hardly be surprising that the program is the focus of a number of cutting-edge procurement practices. For instance, CVF is one of the flagship programs for the implementation of SMART acquisition. This includes, for example, a greater willingness to identify, evaluate and implement effective trade-offs between system performance, whole-life costs and time; the adoption of incremental acquisition for areas like the combat system; the use of the off the shelf equipment and commercial standards where appropriate; and a continued close and more open working relationship with industry.

The CVF Integrated Project Team (IPT) has also been in the forefront of the roll out of Earned Value Management assessment techniques, resulting in the receipt of a Chairman’s Award for Innovation from BAE Systems. The IPT pioneered the Continuous Assessment process that took account of a number of criteria falling into 2 broad categories: those relating to the contractor’s performance in keeping to project schedules and establishing a relationship with the MoD; and those relating to the actual output and results of the work being undertaken by the contractors. Finally, the CVF IPT was one of the first organizations anywhere in the world to gain ISO9001/2000 Quality Assurance certification in March 2001.

The Initial Roadmap

Many of these initiatives were put in place during the program’s earliest phases. On Dec 12/05, British Defence Secretary John Reid announced a series of major developments that effectively ended the exploratory phases, launched the program, and set out the program’s initial roadmap:

• Naval architects FBM Babcock Marine, and shipbuilders and ship support specialists VT Group, plc joined the ACA, even as the “Delta” design was formally announced as the baseline by the Ministry of Defence.

• GBP 300 million would be spent to develop the design of the ships to the point at which manufacturing can begin. Commitment to some long-lead items for the ships was also made. The Demonstration Phase was delivered under 6 works contracts – a separate works contract for each alliance partner (2 x BAE Systems (Naval Ships and Insyte), Thales, KBR, VT, Babcock). The Works Contracts covered the budget, payment arrangements, work scope, fit to requirements, and construction timetable. The Alliance Agreement defined the arrangements for gainshare, management and establishing relationships/behaviors for the Demonstration Phase, with an over arching alliance agreement signed by all the parties on April 13/06.

• Main Gate approval was split into two incremental steps. Dec 12/05 marked the end the MoD’s assessment phase. Following the Demonstration Phase, a ‘Red Team’ assessment led by Sir John Parker, and an Independent Financial Review by Deloitte plus Jacobs and Rand, the second step of main gate approval was given in July 2007. Costs were pegged at GBP 3.8 billion for 2 ships, and in-service dates were initially pegged at 2014 and 2016.

• Per Britain’s Defence Industrial Strategy, the government looked for a merger to create a single supplier of surface fleet ships and support. BAE Systems and VT Group eventually created BVT Surface Fleet for that purpose in July 2007, and the first CVF production contracts followed. By November 2009, however, BAE had bought out its partner, creating a more direct single supplier.

• The British government has also announced their intent to explore performance-based all-encompassing in-service support contracts for the new carriers and the existing carriers through to their out of service dates. This is in line with their broad-based “Future Contracting for Availability” initiative, which is part of their Defence Industrial Strategy.

Approvals and contracts for the Demonstration Phase continued through to October 2007. Subsequent contracts have involved production items. As noted above, the production phase is being managed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, in cooperation with the Power and Propulsion Sub Alliance.

Additional Readings & Sources

DID thanks reader Roderick Louis for his tips and research.

Background: CVF Program

• Aircraft Carrier Alliance – Official Site. See also Build Updates.

• Wikipedia – Royal Navy CVF programme. Very good summary in brief of the program’s history.

• Defence Procurement Agency, UK MoD – Future Aircraft Carrier. See also the Integrated Project Team page.

Background: Ships

• Royal Navy: Future Ships – Queen Elizabeth Class.

• UK MoD, via UK National Archive – VIDEO: Computer Generated Imagery of the UK’s Future Aircraft Carriers (CVF) [Windows Media format, 2.8MB]

• UK MoD, via WayBack – FACTSHEET: The Royal Navy’s Future Aircraft Carriers. Includes good historical background re: past ships to hold the names HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, whose histories go back to the Spanish Armada. From July 25/07.

• Thales UK – Future Carrier

• Navy Matters – Carrier Strike Programme. See also the numerous sub-sections. Includes some excellent material, see esp. The development of the CVF in pictures.

• Naval Technology – CVF – Royal Navy Future Aircraft Carrier, United Kingdom

• GlobalSecurity.org – Queen Elizabeth class Future Aircraft Carrier CVF (002)

Related Ships

• DID FOCUS Article – France Steaming Ahead on PA2/CVF Carrier Project. Describes a number of the compromises made between the French and British in the final CVF base design, as well as some of the modifications that France’s larger 75,000t carrier would have had. France eventually decided not to build a 2nd carrier.

• Naval Technology – Invincible Class Aircraft Carriers, United Kingdom. HMS Illustrious is the last.

• DID – DDG Type 45: Britain’s Shrinking Air Defense Fleet. The carrier’s prime air defense protection.

• DID – Britain’s Future Frigates: Type 26 & 27 Global Combat Ships. Will be the carrier’s primary anti-submarine protection. Due to enter service in the early 2020s.

Background: Ancillary Technologies

• BAE – Artisan 3D Medium Range Radar Type 997

• Rolls Royce – MT30

• Thales (Feb 11/09) – United Kingdom selects Thales’s S1850M radar for new aircraft carriers. Thales’ site is behind the times, and lacks a single reference for the S1850M. This long-range volume search radar is also used aboard British Type 45 Daring Class air defense destroyers, and the related Franco-Italian Horizon Class.

• DID Spotlight – EMALS: Electro-Magnetic Launch for Carriers. Was picked to equip the 2nd CVF ship during the 2010-2012 interlude. Dropped when Britain reverted back to the F-35B.

• Converteam, via WayBack – Electromagnetic Catapult. Received some UK funding, before General Atomics’ EMALS was picked. The firm became part of GE in 2011.

Background: Air Wing

• DID – F-35 Lightning: The Joint Strike Fighter Program, 2012 – 2013

• RAF – F-35 Lightning II. The F-35Bs will be RAF.

• Royal Navy – F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

• DID – $2 Bn for British EH101 Merlin Multi-Role Upgrades. In-depth coverage of the upgrades to Merlin Mk.2 status, as part of a wider set of Merlin support programs.

• Royal Navy – Merlin MK1

• Spyflight – Westland Sea King AEW2 and ASaC.7. Since British carriers didn’t have catapults, a conventional AEW aircraft like the E-2C Hawkeyes that serve on FS Charles de Gaulle wasn’t an option.

Official Reports

• UK House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (Sept 3/13) – Public Accounts Committee publish Carrier Strike report. Includes links to the full report, and 2013 testimony to the committee.

• UK House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (Nov 29/11) – Providing the UK’s Carrier Strike Capability.

• UK House of Commons Defence Committee Transcript, Evidence heard in Public Questions 146 – 247 (Oct 25/05) – Minister for Defence Procurement Lord Drayson re: CVF Program Progress. Includes in-depth discussion of their project and program management approaches.

• UK MoD – Future Aircraft Carrier Power Point Presentation [rendered in PDF format – broken link]. Nelson’s ghost, the PPT scourge has crossed the pond, has it?

News & Views

• Royal Navy, via WayBack – The Role of an Aircraft Carrier (CVS). Explains the Royal Navy’s envisioned uses for aircraft carriers generally, and describes the current state of affairs. Capture from July 4/08.

• Royal Navy (Sept 19/13) – Equipping UK maritime forces for the challenges of the future. A speech by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas at DESi 2013.

• James Hasik (July 31/13) – How to price yourself out of the war business – the naval edition

• Defense News (April 9/13) – UK Advances New AEW Capabilities

• Aviation Week, via WayBack (Dec 3/12) – U.K. Mulls Sea King Successors

• Defence Management Journal, via google cache (2012) – Ships of the line. DE&S Capital Ships Team briefs DMJ on the considerations, challenges and successes of the construction process under way at Rosyth…

• IET, via WayBack (Dec 3/09) – Virtual aircraft carriers underway. “In this video interview [ACA’s] Mark Langdon talks to Steve Dowdell, mission system director for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance about the UK’s newest aircraft carriers which are taking shape in an artificial world high above Portsmouth.”

• DID (Nov 9/09) – BAE & VT Group Finalize, then Dissolve, UK Surface Ship JV. BAE bought out VT’s assets.

• Aviation Week’s Defense Technology International, via WayBack (Jun 13/07) – Britain and France Develop New Carriers. Among other things, has very interesting data on cruise ship vs. aircraft carrier waste management and load/costs. PA2/CVF carriers are incorporating some of those lessons.

• DID (Aug 16/05) – Britain Studies Ways to Reduce CVF Future Carrier Program Costs. The UK MoD recognised that the design process provided opportunities to save substantial sums of money over the ships’ lifecycles. The RAND Corporation was asked to perform an independent, objective analysis of new technologies and alternative manufacturing options and, in particular, to identify and evaluate options for reducing support costs, other whole-life costs, and manpower.

G550 CAEW

The US Navy is replacing its 2 NP-3D “Billboard” range monitoring aircraft with a new plane, which will use the same core design as the modern AWACS aircraft bought by Israel, Italy, and Singapore: “a Gulfstream G550 long-range business jet with the Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) structural modifications.”

The aircraft needs to be ready by the end of September 2017. So, why the G550 CAEW?

NP-3D “Billboard”
(click to view full)

“The aircraft shall be procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Type of Supplies or Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements.” The Gulfstream G550 CAEW aircraft is the only known aircraft that will satisfy the NAWC-WD Sea Range Support requirements without significant engineering, development, modification, test, and certification effort. This commercial derivative aircraft has both an FAA Type Certificate and the necessary Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) to meet Government airworthiness requirements. No other known commercial derivative aircraft that possesses these necessary type certificates is capable of meeting the mission requirements, and therefore the G550 CAEW is the only aircraft that can meet the Government’s requirements on a timely basis.”

The one area that isn’t clear is the electronics. Some reports note IAI Elta as the sub-contractor, but that doesn’t appear in official announcements or new releases. The text of this FBO.gov announcement, and the fact that they’re buying from Gulfstream rather than Elbit or IAI, suggest that may only be buying the certified airframe. That would mean that they’d need to integrate their own radars, datalinks, etc. for over the horizon monitoring and missile testing. The full AWACS equipment set would certainly work, but it isn’t cheap, and may be more than the mission needs.

Fortunately, the Gulfstream 550 CAEW comes with a lot of built-in space and power for any installations the US Navy wants performed. Sources: FBO.gov Solicitation Number N00019-14-P1-PMA-207-0804 | Defense Update, “Gulfstream jets with Israeli radar to replace US Navy’s P-3 orion in test-range surveillance” | Flight International, “US Navy to order Gulfstream jet for test-range surveillance”.

Updates June 28/17: A possible $1.3 billion deal has also been cleared by the US State Department that could see up to five Gulfstream G550 aircraft with Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems delivered to Australia. The sale will support ongoing efforts by Australia to modernize its Electronic Warfare capability and increases interoperability between the US Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). L-3 Technologies will act as lead contractor on the sale.

May 12/16: The USAF has requested $165.7 million in the FY 2017 defense budget to convert the EC-37B (military designation for the G550) into an electronic attack platform. If selected, the C-37B will eventually replace the EC-130H currently used. According to the service, the selection of the C-37B was made uncompetitively as the aircraft did not require any further certification work.

January 8/16: Australia’s DoD has confirmed that they have purchased two Gulfstream G550 aircraft modified for surveillance and electronic warfare. Confirmation comes after the US DoD announced a foreign military sales contract on December 28. The two corporate aircraft will be fitted with specialized modifications by L-3 Communications Mission Integration in a deal worth $93.6 million.

January 4/16: Australia is to procure and operate the Gulfstream G550 as a special missions aircraft. A US Department of Defense foreign sales contract has awarded L-3 $93 million to provide special missions modifications to the aircraft to be completed by November 30 2017. While the Australian government has yet to confirm its intention to operate special missions aircraft, it is believed that it will be announced in a forthcoming Defence Department white paper.

British Arctic Warfare Magnum Sniper Rifle

The US Marine Corps' (USMC) Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 has resumed flight operations of the F-35B Lightning II short take-off / vertical landing (STOVL) variant, following a temporary suspension period due to software issues.

The US Marine Corps' (USMC) first two light-armoured vehicle anti-tank modernisation (LAV-ATM) A2 models have been integrated with the latest and advanced rocket launcher.

JSK Naval Support has completed its first manufacturing contract for Canada's Department of National Defense with the delivery of 66 battery packs.

The European Commission (DG GROW) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) today jointly organised a successful Infoday and Brokerage event to inform interested parties on the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) and the details of the calls for proposals published on 7 June.  The event was attended by more than 300 participants representing a wide variety of companies (including SMEs), research centres, universities, Ministries of Defence, European institutions, regional/local authorities and defence related organisations.

The gathering was opened by keynote speeches held by Philippe Brunet (Director for Space policy and Research, Copernicus and Defence within the European Commission’s Directorate General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, DG GROW) and Jorge Domecq, the European Defence Agency Chief Executive. 

In his speech, Mr Domecq said that “the tremendous interest in the Preparatory Action from industry across the continent is a testimony to the role industry and research organisations can and must play in delivering present and future European defence capabilities”. He added: “With this Preparatory Action, the Commission, supported by EDA, is making an important contribution to European defence that must provide European added value, focus on capability priorities at the European level and in areas where Member States can no longer afford to go alone, benefit all Member States, serve agreed capability priorities and provide incentives for more cooperation at European level, both among governments and industry”.

Commission Director Philippe Brunet said that “the Preparatory Action is an incentive for Member States and research actors to do better and more together” in view of strengthening the industrial and technological base of Europe’s defence industry. 

Participants received detailed presentations and participated in interactive information sessions on the first three PADR calls for proposals issued in June. The Brokerage event which took place in the afternoon provide participants with plenty of opportunities for networking with partners interested in forming consortia.

The PADR has the objective to test the added-value of the EU budget supporting defence research, in view of a potential EU programme in the next EU Multi-annual Financial Framework. The PADR is being implemented by the EDA through a Delegation Agreement signed on 31 May between the EDA and the Commission.

 

More information: 

• Speech (full text) of Jorge Domecq
• Infoday Presentations & Conclusions
• PADR factsheet
• PADR project page
• PADR calls for proposals 

 

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced on 14 November 2016 that it would “imminently” make its final decision whether to ask the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber for authorisation to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since Afghanistan signed the ICC statute in 2003. The Afghan government, however, has asked the ICC to hold off on plans for an investigation for one more year. AAN researcher Ehsan Qaane analyses the developments over the past seven months, the back-and-forth between the Afghan government and the ICC, and the likely key issue: whether war criminals enjoy amnesty in Afghanistan, or not.

As a member of the Transitional Justice Coordination Group, an informal network of civil society organisations and a former fellow at the ICC, Ehsan Qaane has followed the ICC preliminary analysis of the situation in Afghanistan closely. The author was also part of the civil society delegation that visited the ICC in The Hague in April 2017, a visit that is discussed towards the end of this dispatch.

14 years after signing the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (hereafter, Rome Statute), the Afghan government has felt compelled to start communicating with the court. On the Afghan side, this communication involves the highest level. This in response to a report by the ICC prosecutor, which stated that there was “reasonable basis to believe” that war crimes and crimes against humanity had occurred in Afghanistan since the government signed the Rome statute on 1 May 2003 (see the sixth Preliminary Examination Report on the Afghanistan Situation disseminated by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC on 14 November 2016).

The ICC also noted that no-one had been prosecuted for such crimes in this period in the country so far. Therefore, it said, the OTP would take its final decision “imminently” as to whether it would submit an application to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber for authorisation to open an investigation (see also AAN analyses here and here). This would require a majority of three judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber to be convinced by the OTP’s findings and arguments.

Kabul’s main demand now is that the OTP delay submitting its application to the Pre-Trial Chamber to open an investigation. The reason: It feels that such an investigation could derail the September 2016 peace deal with Hezb-e Islami, the country’s second largest insurgent group. The deal has been welcomed by some Afghan allies, but not by war victims and human rights activists (see here and here).

The Afghan political delegation: “Don’t hamper the peace process”

In November 2016, a delegation of the Afghan government met ICC chairwoman Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi and ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in The Hague. The delegation was led by Hekmat Karzai, the deputy foreign minister for political affairs. According to the minutes of the meetings, reviewed in hardcopy by AAN, the government stated there that it “is keen to fully cooperate with the ICC, but it is not the right time to open an investigation into Afghanistan’s situation” (AAN translation from Dari). The delegation requested the ICC for more time (“at least one year”) so it could ensure a more comprehensive cooperation with the ICC. It argued that the ICC investigation could harm the ongoing peace process with Hezb-e Islami and its leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, as well as the government’s next attempts to encourage the Taleban to join a similar ‘peace process’.

The Taleban (and their affiliated Haqqani network) are among the alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as mentioned in the OTP Preliminary Examination Reports. The Office has not attributed any alleged crime to Hezb-e Islami, although it listed it as one of the armed group who fought against the Afghan government. For its report, the OTP mainly used the October 2016 quarterly UNAMA civilian casualties report. In this report, covering the period between 1 January and 30 September 2016, 61 per cent of conflict-related civilian casualties was attributed to anti-government elements, without naming particular groups (AAN analysis here).

Since then, UNAMA’s annual report, published after the OTP report and the peace agreement with Hezb (in February 2017), attributed seven injured civilians to Hezb-e-Islami during 2016 (see p 50 here) from amongst a total of 6,994 civilian casualties attributed to anti-government elements. The last big terrorist attacks that led to civilian casualties and were claimed by Hezb occurred in Kabul in May 2013 and in February 2014.

The September 2016 peace agreement with Hezb-e Islami granted a blanket amnesty. This applied not only to the party leader, but to all Hezb commanders and fighters who joined the peace process. It did not set any caveat on the obligations under international law to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes, generally understood as the crimes included in the Rome statute.

As a result of the deal, Hekmatyar’s name was removed from the UN Sanctions List at Kabul’s request and the votes of the Security Council members. On 2 May 2017, 55 Hezb members were released from Afghan prisons. Meanwhile, negotiations for the release of around 2000 more detainees and prisoners are ongoing. On 5 May 2017, President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, former head of state Hamed Karzai and prominent mujahedin leaders from the civil war era (1992-96) officially welcomed Hekmatyar in the presidential palace. In a speech there, Hekmatyar stressed the importance of “forgetting the past” and stated: “I never called anyone a war criminal and have also not asked for them to be brought to justice, as this is not the right time [to do so]. [In addition] there is no court in Afghanistan to prosecute warlords. The government is not strong enough to do so. Personally, I am not interested in the prosecution [of warlords].” (Watch here, 32:00 to 35:00)

Granting this blanket amnesty to alleged perpetrators of war crimes – and indirectly also offering it to the Taleban (as the Hezb deal has been viewed as a blueprint for such a second peace deal numerous times, e.g. see this EU statement) – will not help convince the ICC of the Afghan government’s willingness to prosecute war criminals.

According to article 17 and 53 of the Rome Statute, the OTP has to open an investigation when a state party shows unwillingness to prosecute alleged crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC. According to the minutes of the Hague meeting, in response to the Afghan delegation’s request for a delay, ICC officials mentioned that “though the ICC is not putting its state parties under time restriction (…), the ICC is obliged to follow its procedures, too.” The officials also criticised the Afghan government for poor cooperation with the ICC in the past: “Since 2010, the ICC repeatedly asked information [from the Afghan government] but unfortunately [its] cooperation was not sufficient.”

The Afghan delegation to The Hague told ICC officials that the OTP had not considered important new legal developments that, according to the delegation, now showed Afghanistan’s willingness and ability to prosecute. Since November 2016, the following legislation had been passed:

• A new draft penal code was approved on 2 March 2017 by the cabinet. In contrast to its predecessor, this law now also criminalises war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. It includes definitions for these crimes that are identical with those in the ICC Statute. Articles 339 and 340 on responsibility of superiors now make commanders and senior officials responsible if their subordinates commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or aggression. This would be the first time in Afghan legal history that these international crimes have been criminalised in a national law – pending approval by parliament. (Another option is that President Ghani endorses the law as a presidential decree during the parliament’s summer recess.)
• The Law on Prohibition of Recruitment of Child Soldiers was published in the official gazette on 17 January 2015 and came into force one month later. Its Article 3 prohibits the recruitment of children and sets a punishment of six months to one year imprisonment for commanders who recruit children. The OTP’s Preliminary Examination Reports, including its latest report, published on 14 November 2016, included allegations of child recruitment by Afghan government forces: […] Afghan government forces have allegedly conscripted, enlisted and used children to participate actively in hostilities.

In their meeting, the Afghan delegation and the ICC officials agreed to continue communication and cooperation. The Afghan side gave assurances they would soon send a technical delegation to continue the discussion.

The technical delegation: “The ‘Amnesty Bill’ does not mean impunity”

The technical delegation visited the ICC on 12 January 2017. According to a source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (who spoke on condition of anonymity), Nadir Nadiry, the former transitional justice commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, strategic communication officer in President Ghani’s office (at that time) and Afghanistan’s government focal point for the ICC, led the delegation.

The delegation was asked by the ICC to provide information on Afghanistan’s peace process with Hezb-Islami and the ‘Amnesty Bill’ for war crimes passed by the Afghan parliament that has been in force since 2009 (for background information, see here). The OTP, in its sixth Preliminary Examination Report had earlier noted that:

… the “Law on Public Amnesty and National Stability” provides legal immunity to all belligerent parties including “those individuals and groups who are still in opposition to the Islamic State of Afghanistan”, without any temporal limitation to the law’s application or any exception for international crimes.”

The delegation defended the Amnesty Bill and the peace agreement with Hezb-e Islami by explaining the Afghan, particularly sharia-based, legal terminology. This terminology refers to the categories of Haqullah (public right) and Haq ul-Abd (individual right). Under Haq ul-Abd, individual victims of war crimes and human rights violations continue to have the right to file a lawsuit and the judicial organs are required to process the case. This means that the judicial organs will only become active when victims take the initiative. However, without legal support of the state, this is in practice largely impossible, as many of the alleged criminals are either part of the government or in other positions of political power, including in the judicial organs.

Since the Amnesty Bill came into force, no victims have filed a case, either individually or collectively. Still, with Haq ul-Abd being part of the Amnesty Bill and the Hezb peace agreement, Kabul argued that the law and the deal did not amount to a blanket immunity.

The ICC officials were not convinced and asked the delegation for further explanations in writing.

Prosecutor to President Ghani: “The ICC will follow its procedures”

On 18 February 2017, President Ghani met the ICC Prosecutor at the Munich Security Conference. This followed a phone conversation with Ms Bensouda in December 2016, according to a source in the MoFA. In the meeting, he asked Ms Bensouda to also “consider those groups and countries that are behind [the] killing of Afghan civilians”. It is not clear if the President meant for an investigation. The website of the President’s office did not give provide details regarding which groups and countries he was referring to or how the ICC might do this. The Afghan government has, however, repeatedly claimed that Pakistan supports Afghan insurgent groups; the NDS, for example, has accused the Haqqani network as being behind the 31 May 2017 terrorist attack in Kabul, in cooperation with the Pakistani intelligence service. It is also not clear whether the President, with this statement, in principle agreed that the ICC should open an investigation in Afghanistan or whether he meant that Pakistan should be investigated instead.

It was reported that the ICC prosecutor stressed in the meeting that she would keep up her cooperation with the Afghan government under the provisions of the ICC procedures. This means the ICC will initiate an investigation in Afghanistan if the information provided by Afghan government does not convince the court about its willingness and ability to prosecute perpetrators of international crimes that have occurred on Afghan soil.

The result of the communications: 15 cases sent to the ICC

Following the two meetings, the Afghan government took further steps to convince the ICC about this ability and willingness to prosecute. It shared two packages of cases that had already been prosecuted in Afghanistan. The five cases in the first set were sent in March 2017. These included the cases of Anas Haqqani and Hafiz uRashid; two senior Haqqani network figures who were tried in 2016 by the primary and appeal courts in Bagram district of Parwan province. Both were sentenced to death on the charge of financing and supporting terrorist attacks carried out by the Haqqani network on Afghan soil. (So far, AAN has been unable to establish details of the other cases sent to the ICC.) In this package, the government also sent the additional arguments about the concepts of Haqullah and Haq ul-Abd in the Amnesty Bill, as requested.

The second package, sent in late April 2017, included ten cases of rape, sexual abuse, murder and torture of war prisoners, committed by Afghan soldiers, that had been addressed by military courts. According to information AAN received from sources with knowledge of these proceedings, none of the convicted soldiers was of senior rank. Based on this information, it may be doubtful whether those crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Afghan civil society activists to the ICC: “Please go ahead”

A group of Afghan civil society activists also met ICC officials in The Hague from 3 to 7 April 2017. The group expressed scepticism about the preparation of the government to have an ICC investigation. Hadi Marifat, a member of the group, said in the meeting: “In the absence of adequate applicable legislation, judicial redress, and political will of the Afghan state to genuinely investigate and prosecute those responsible for international crimes, and the resulting blatant culture of impunity in the country, the ICC must intervene and support the victims in their long quest for justice.” The group spoke in favour of the ICC opening an investigation in Afghanistan.

The ICC keeps its decision open

The information shared by the government over the past months, after the November 2016 Preliminary Examination Report, represents a considerable improvement in its cooperation with the ICC. As AAN reported earlier, the government had previously hesitated as to whether even to receive an ICC delegation and had delayed issuing visas.

Possibly as a result of the communication, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC has not yet submitted its application to the pre-trial chamber to seek authorisation for an investigation. It seems willing to give the Afghan government another chance to prove its ability and willingness to prosecute alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. So far, the government has tried to convince the ICC of its goodwill by sharing information, but this is likely to be too small a step to convince the ICC. But better communication with the ICC can help both parties gain a better understanding of each other’s intentions. Afghans – including the government – often do not have a clear understanding of the ICC and its jurisdiction. On the other hand, ICC staff working on Afghanistan situation also may need time to better understand Afghanistan’s context.

The lack of criminalisation of some of the crimes that could fall under ICC jurisdiction, and the lack of clarity on how to address them, remains a concern, because of the still pending Penal Code. The failure to implement existing law is another big challenge. Torture, for example, has been criminalised by the current Afghan Penal Code since October 1976 and by the current Afghan constitution since January 2003, but it is still widely used, as the latest UNAMA torture report showed (the report found that from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 more than a third of 469 conflict-related detainees interviewed by UNAMA “gave credible accounts of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment” – see AAN analysis here). The OTP’s preliminary examination reports also showed that the OTP found a reasonable basis to believe that torture was used by Afghan security forces, including the police, the intelligence service and the army. The OTP stated that the available information did not confirm any prosecution of perpetrators for this crime.

It is then obvious that in order for the Afghan government to convince the ICC of its willingness and ability to prosecute, it will need to show more than mere legal changes – it will need to show that actual steps towards accountability are taken.

Edited by Thomas Ruttig and Sari Kouvo

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