Originally Posted by Not_a_boffin
QE can be converted for catapult & trap - it's just that doing it right now is not possible because the detailed design work required to accommodate the systems has not yet been done. Any further delay in the programme for QE will add serious cost, given that large heavily outfitted chunks of the ship are all over the country at the minute, with armies of workers swarming over them.
Like the 2-year delay on QE that was announced last October in the SDSR?
Apparently, the £950 million is for BOTH carriers to be fitted with catapults and arresting gear...
http://www.publications.p...-0002.htm#11071817000001 18 July 2011 : Column 656
Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op): Will the Secretary of State confirm the exact details of the announcement he made in his statement when he said, “I can therefore now give the go-ahead for the procurement of” a list of things, including “the cat and traps for the Queen Elizabeth class carriers”. Does that mean that both carriers will receive cat and traps?
Dr Fox: That is our plan, and I have agreed to my officials now getting involved in contract negotiations. They were not previously able to do so because we were not guaranteed that we would have the budget. When we make decisions of this nature we must ensure that we have the wherewithal to pay for them. Otherwise, as I have said, they are simply a wish list.