A nice image that depict the use of a former RAF HC2
More Here
Teams Vie To Provide C2 Helos for UK Carrier – DefenseNews.com - Breaking Defense News
Interesting Point
he two potential bidders for the project, known as Crow’s Nest, are proposing radically different solutions.
The Thales/AgustaWestland team is offering to use the existing Searchwater 2000 radar and Cerberus mission control system from the Sea King in what it calls a “low-cost, low-risk” solution to provide the airborne surveillance and control capability for the new Queen Elizabeth carriers when the first of two warships enter service in 2016.
The Sea Kings were recently upgraded with improved radar and other capabilities and the system is now being used overland as part of the surveillance operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Thales-supplied Searchwater would be palletized, allowing rapid role-on roll-off to increase the role flexibility of the machine. The radar is deployed through the rear ramp of the Merlin.
Lockheed declined to discuss the details of its potential proposal.
How difficult can this be?
Do the MoD
- Take and Existing Airframe which is being handed over to the RN, Decommish a Bagger and hand to AW for Palatisation with a Merlin That would no doubt require some mods and, for a Trifling cost, the RN gets a Platform that is flexible in role and already has a support system in place.
or
- Do they buy into the LM Proposal.
As an ex MoD employee who managed to successfully avoid the required Suppression of free thinking course which is prerequisite before going into management I would hope the AW Solution would win.
...However we are talking about the MoD
Or Maybe
Could this be a way of bringing the Merlin HC transfer (or apparent lack of it) into the public eye without an inter-service bitching sesh?
